Synonyms of scattering

scattering 1 of 2

noun

ˈska-tə-riŋ 

1

as in dispersion

an act or process in which something scatters or is scattered

the scattering of the protesters suddenly turned violent and chaotic

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dispersion
• dispersal
• dissipation
• diffusion
• dissemination
• disbandment
• split
• breakup
• dissolution
• separation
• disunion

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• concentration
• collection
• assembly
• gathering

2

as in handful

a small number

a scattering of people in the mostly empty theater

Synonyms & Similar Words

• handful
• couple
• few
• scatter
• smattering
• sprinkling
• sprinkle
• smatter
• minority
• fragment
• grain
• atom
• molecule
• particle
• whit
• shred
• modicum
• jot
• iota
• crumb
• tittle
• scrap

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• many
• loads
• multitude
• thousands
• flock
• mountain
• army
• crowd
• most
• host
• horde
• majority
• legion
• excess
• abundance
• scads
• surplus
• oodles
• plenty
• gazillion
• zillion
• mass
• quantity
• pile
• jillion
• wealth
• heap
• profusion
• stack
• kazillion
• lot
• slew
• pot
• raft
• deal
• peck
• reams
• plenitude
• wad
• gobs
• much
• slather

scattering

2 of 2

verb

present participle of scatter

1

as in dispersing

to cause (members of a group) to move widely apart

the noise of the backfiring car scattered the pigeons

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dispersing
• dissipating
• dispelling
• isolating
• squandering
• segregating
• separating
• disbanding
• diffusing
• splitting (up)
• clearing out
• disseminating
• parting
• spreading
• diverging
• breaking up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• collecting
• gathering
• assembling
• concentrating
• clustering
• congregating
• ingathering
• agglutinating
• uniting
• unifying
• conglomerating

2

as in spraying

to cover by or as if by scattering something over or on

the hillside was scattered with boulders deposited by the last ice age

Synonyms & Similar Words

• spraying
• sprinkling
• dotting
• peppering
• strewing
• dusting
• sowing
• spotting
• bestrewing
• drizzling
• speckling
• flecking
• studding
• dappling
• blanketing
• spattering
• stippling
• bespattering

3

as in dissipating

to go off in different directions and cease to exist as a body or unified whole

these drunken revelers will quickly scatter when the police arrive

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dispersing
• dissipating
• disappearing
• fading
• dissolving
• disassembling
• evaporating
• spilling
• dividing
• melting
• diverging
• separating
• disbanding
• forking
• fleeing
• branching (out)
• going (away)
• clearing
• breaking up
• evanescing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• gathering
• meeting
• congregating

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of scattering

Noun

As if triggered by this thought, the door buzzed itself open, startling the pigeons from wire to wing, a grand scattering. — Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026

The shiny brioche bun from Peter Sciortino Bakery squishes just right, hugging a healthy swipe of sinus-clearing horseradish mayo and a scattering of pickled onions underneath. — Rachel Bernhard, jsonline.com, 9 Sep. 2026

Verb

Both men were arrested and charged with criminal mischief, criminal conspiracy and scattering rubbish. — Madeleine Wright, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026

Our little group is still shaking off our early morning bleariness while scattering over the rocks, bending over to peer closely into the tide pools. — Joseph Ogilvy, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Oct. 2026