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 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 Scientists literally had to pick up the pieces after the wafers containing the solar wind samples shattered into thousands of tiny shards. — Tariq Malik, Space.com, 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

But the archaeologists who excavated the new skeletal fragments from Shanidar Cave in the Kurdistan region of Iraq say the fossils weave a complex tale of Neanderthal life and death, beyond what appeared to be deliberate violence.

— Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2026
The show’s name was inspired by the scientific name for the nightshades family of plants and the paintings had fragments of darkness.

— Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of fragments

Noun

Those products are made with tiny particles that are more likely to be inhaled or absorbed by marine organisms.

— ABC News, ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026
For example, when a credit card is fragmented into particles some 10 microns in diameter, there is a more than 200-fold increase in its surface area, says Wei Min, a chemist at Columbia University and one of the senior authors of the study.

— Payal Dhar, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of particles

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

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
Viewers get only glimmers of the characters’ personalities and backgrounds, but the show offers enough detail and texture to understand how Season 1 might unfold.

— Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of glimmers

Noun

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
Topping up the battery takes 90 minutes, according to Shift Robotics, and an IP54 rating means the shoes shrug off splashes but would not enjoy a swim.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of splashes

Noun

O’Rourke and double bassist Johan Berthling shape a steady drone, while Ishibashi’s piano runs suggest time-lapse footage of ice crystals forming, ordinary little bits cohering into objects of wonder.

— Grayson Haver Currin, Pitchfork, 15 Oct. 2026
Cryptographers responded by lengthening the keys, and 2,048 bits is now considered the minimum.

— Chris Stokel-Walker, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of bits

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“Shards.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shards. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of shards

noun

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