Synonyms of schism

schism

noun

ˈsi-zəm 

1

as in discord

a lack of agreement or harmony

schism within the charitable organization was preventing it from achieving its goals

Synonyms & Similar Words

• discord
• strife
• friction
• conflict
• war
• discordance
• dissent
• discordancy
• warfare
• division
• disunity
• dispute
• clash
• dissension
• disharmony
• dissonance
• infighting
• disunion
• variance
• altercation
• hostility
• dissidence
• disagreement
• divide
• inharmony
• contention
• disaccord
• argument
• collision
• debate
• fissure
• quarrel
• fight
• competition
• brawl
• animosity
• squabble
• falling-out
• antagonism
• enmity
• inconsistency
• bicker
• tiff
• spat
• incompatibility
• rancor
• incongruity
• incongruence
• run-in
• wrangle
• antipathy
• row
• cold war
• mix-up
• jar
• ill will
• inconsistence
• miff
• scrap
• incongruousness
• inconsonance
• hassle
• inharmoniousness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• agreement
• peace
• harmony
• accord
• cooperation
• concord
• concordance
• concurrence

2

as in split

the act or process of a whole separating into two or more parts or pieces

the schism of the Christian church into the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches

Synonyms & Similar Words

• split
• dissolution
• breakup
• division
• partition
• separation
• bifurcation
• cleavage
• disunion
• fractionation
• scission
• fractionalization
• sundering
• dispersion
• rupture
• polarization
• divorce
• decomposition
• dispersal
• distribution
• subdivision
• breach
• severance
• segregation
• segmentation
• administration
• isolation
• diffusion
• dismemberment
• apportionment
• scattering
• disassembly
• dichotomization
• atomization
• seclusion
• sequestration

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• union
• unification
• association
• connection
• assemblage
• attachment
• conjunction
• linkage
• link
• consolidation
• fusion
• combination
• aggregation
• linkup

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of schism

Lowe used to be a member of a much larger and more popular right-wing populist party, Nigel Farage’s Reform, but he was forced out in an enjoyably catty and melodramatic schism after calling for mass deportations. — Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 26 July 2026

The Vatican declared the group of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide in schism after the SSPX consecrated four bishops in Switzerland without Pope Leo XIV’s approval this month. — Nora O'Neill, Charlotte Observer, 15 July 2026

The Vatican said dialogue was offered to the ​group ahead of the schism and that the step of ordaining ​bishops without ⁠church approval was considered so grave that excommunication was automatic. — Reuters, NBC news, 5 July 2026

The Vatican said on July 2 that priests and lay Catholics who are part of a breakaway right-wing Catholic group that ordained bishops without Pope Leo's approval were in schism with the wider Church and now excommunicated. — Joshua McElwee, USA Today, 2 July 2026