SHARDS Synonyms: 96 Similar and Opposite Words

shards

noun

plural of shard

as in slivers

a small sharp piece of something (such as glass or pottery) Watch out for the shards of glass on the floor.

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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 shards Neighbors are raising questions about the school's field where a student was injured by shards of glass. — Payton May, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026 Each is almost seven by five feet, and most establish a broad field of color—blue, crimson, orange—across which migrate sharp and irregular shapes, some like long teeth or spears, others like shards of obsidian. — Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2026 Try topping with a plop of Greek yogurt or some shards of feta. — Emma Laperruque, Bon Appetit Magazine, 12 Oct. 2026 In fact, they aren’t made of glass at all; they’re made of polycarbonate, a plastic material that mimics the look of a wonky funhouse reflector, to prevent people from shattering the surface and using broken shards as weapons. — Elizabeth Gulino, Allure, 8 Oct. 2026 Students sitting with arms linked at the elbows could only see in shards through a picket of shin guards, restricting their view of the area where classmates and roommates were dragged one by one and zip-tied face down on the spring grass. — Sophie Landres, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026 Windows had been boarded up to avoid glass shards hurting anyone in case of an explosion. — ABC News, 27 Sep. 2026 Smoke continued to rise from the twisted shards of metal, while the remains of the World Trade Center smoldered in a massive pile. — Sophia Leone, FOXNews.com, 10 Sep. 2026 Once the drop trap — a simple wire cage triggered by yanking on a cord — is set up with an enticing mix of sardines and shards of roast chicken on a cardboard tray inside, everyone moves out of sight behind massive logs a few yards away. — Adam Tschorn, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shards

Noun

But embedded in nights such as Tuesday are slivers and morsels of hope and optimism.

— Justice delos Santos, Mercury News, 9 Sep. 2026
According to reports, Brinkley would inject slivers of Billy goat gonads into human scrotums as a cure for impotence.

— Richard Wagoner, Daily News, 7 Sep. 2026

Definition of slivers

Noun

Along with charred automobile parts, construction debris and battery casing fragments found on the site as deep as 16 feet underground, MPCA testing done in the early 2010s identified lead and carcinogenic chemical hotspots.

— CBS News, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026
That was one of those songs that was kind of written in different fragments and came together later.

— Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of fragments

Noun

The source was generally in good condition, but mold spots and dense clusters of small white specks required careful treatment.

— Lin Ying-Hsuan, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026
Breakouts can look like milder, painless white bumps or dark specks known as whiteheads and blackheads, or more painful red bumps and deeper cysts — a mark of cystic acne.

— Adithi Ramakrishnan, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of specks

Noun

The oversized jacket featured a furry white base adorned with flecks of silver, which beautifully mirrored the sumptuous coats on the runway.

— Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 25 Sep. 2026
Add the torn basil and process just until incorporated -- there will be flecks of green in the mixture.

— ABC News, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026

Definition of flecks

Noun

Curt Cignetti has not just provided a championship mindset for the passionate fans that were sitting through days of blowouts and small glimmers of hope in past years.

— Trey Wallace OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Still, Crow—the ever-optimist, as her body of work proves—clings on to the glimmers of hope from leaders of the world who do show us the best parts of humanity.

— Selena Fragassi, SPIN, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of glimmers

Noun

The apron is built to take a beating—oils and rogue splashes barely register, practically rolling right off the surface.

— Alaina Chou, Bon Appetit Magazine, 14 Oct. 2026
Jazz fusion keyboardist George Duke, however, plays wild splashes of melody on an electric piano in the empty spaces between Waits’s lines.

— Al Shipley, SPIN, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of splashes

Noun

The crash, which occurred in a flat stretch surrounded by olive fields in between the towns of Urda and Los Yébenes, left carriages shredded into bits of metal and other material, scattering debris down a gravel slope.

— JOSEPH WILSON, Arkansas Online, 29 Oct. 2026
All of them got here by giant impacts that have pelted Mars for eons, occasionally blasting bits of the planet into space, some of which by chance fall to Earth.

— Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 29 Oct. 2026

Definition of bits

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“Shards.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shards. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of shards

noun

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