BROKE UP Synonyms: 279 Similar and Opposite Words

broke up

verb

past tense of break up

as in disbanded

to cease to exist or cause to cease to exist as a group or organization the band broke up when their arguments over money grew too stressful

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as in stopped

to come to an end the meeting broke up when all the business for the day had been completed

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as in divided

to set or force apart he broke up the rocks in the old stone wall with a crowbar, sending them tumbling to the ground

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as in cracked

to yield to mental or emotional stress the sort of person who would be among the first to break up in a prisoner of war camp

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as in ceased

to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end police arrived at the scene and immediately broke up the fracas

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as in disrupted

to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly break up the feta cheese and spread it over the salad

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as in laughed

to show mirth with an explosive vocal sound if you break up during the skit, the audience will know that you're in on the joke

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of broke up The score remained the same after the second period before Toronto (27-23-9) broke up Bobrovsky’s shutout bid on a John Tavares power-play goal 47 seconds into the third period on a shot that bounced off Florida defenseman Gustav Forsling and into the Panthers’ net. —

Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 27 Feb. 2026 Pink and Hart first met in 2001 and first broke up two years later, only to get back together in 2004. —

Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 26 Feb. 2026 With the sides playing 3-on-3, Keller broke up the left wing and pushed past Claire Thompson. —

John Wawrow, Chicago Tribune, 19 Feb. 2026 Emmanwori broke up 11 passes this year. —

Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 5 Feb. 2026 The group opened for Ray Charles in 1963 but broke up the following year. —

Andrew Dalton, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2026 Roope Hintz broke up Dostál’s shutout in the dying embers. —

Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 14 Jan. 2026 After The Beatles broke up in 1970, Paul McCartney released two solo albums, but then sought to get back into a band setting. —

Melinda Newman, Billboard, 14 Jan. 2026 In 2024, officials broke up a multistate trafficking operation based on the Crow reservation that distributed drugs to other Montana reservations. —

Katheryn Houghton, NPR, 8 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for broke up

Verb

That report was roundly rejected by the scientific community, and the group of five were later sued by environmental groups and disbanded.

— Ella Nilsen, CNN Money, 24 Feb. 2026
In 2017, the legislature disbanded its bipartisan Program Review and Investigations Committee, one of the reforms adopted in the 1970s.

— Mark Pazniokas, Hartford Courant, 20 Feb. 2026