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.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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 shards Schippers created the work as part of a Floor Covering Series, which also included floors covered with glass shards and salt. — ABC News, 9 July 2026 The laminate reinforces the glass to create a shatter-resistant barrier, preventing shards of glass from flying out during extreme weather. — Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026 With grit and one-liners, this American hero navigates air vents and glass shards to save the day. — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 1 July 2026 The genetic blood disease can feel like shards of glass racing through veins, attacking every organ, Ogunsile said. — Larry Seward, CBS News, 29 June 2026 Hall had shards of glass in his chest when he was found, per Utilma Hora. — Julia Moore, PEOPLE, 16 June 2026 From the construction debris and pottery shards, in Hadrian’s day, the structure appeared to archaeologists to have been abandoned. — Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 13 June 2026 Once ground was completely covered with shards of tableware, folks journeyed from their seats into the center of the room for more dancing and merrymaking. — Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 11 June 2026 It's made up of exoskeletons of tiny marine animals and contains sharp shards that penetrate ants' bodies and dispatch them. — Barbara Gillette, The Spruce, 10 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shards

Noun

This white and pink ombré set is elevated with gold slivers to outline each nail.

— Daisy Maldonado, InStyle, 15 June 2026
Arranged over the top are dollops of crema and slivers of pickled yellow squash.

— Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2026

Definition of slivers

Noun

Following the Japanese art form Kintsugi, the packaging is made up of gold- and silver-filled pottery fragments to resemble a broken heart pieced back together.

— Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 9 July 2026
Unlike previous studies, which examined bits of hair and bone fragments in wolf scat to determine what the animals ate, the UC Davis researchers used DNA analysis to determine the makeup of the samples.

— Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 8 July 2026

Definition of fragments

Noun

The potential arrival of a coronal mass ejection — a cloud of magnetic fields and charged particles from the sun — may make for a stronger display overnight on Saturday, July 11, through Sunday, July 12.

— Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
This mixture is pushed through an extruder to form tiny, sprinkle-like cylinders, which are then tumbled in a rapidly spinning chamber to round them into near-spherical particles.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 10 July 2026

Definition of particles

Noun

One released a chaff cascade—hell’s own monsoon manifesting as specks of light, sound, and EM pulses falling through the hanging garden.

— Jeff Spry, Space.com, 26 June 2026
Kansas City isn't much of a pedestrian city, but now, blue and green specks of fans dot the sidewalks, like wildflowers poking through a crack in the pavement.

— Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 June 2026

Definition of specks

Noun

And, notes Fredriksen, in the big picture disasters of the Anthropocene, even glimmers are important.

— Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 6 July 2026
Despite a few glimmers of good feeling, today's fierce political divisions have redefined a milestone that has often been marked by unity and optimism, at least for a moment.

— Susan Page, USA Today, 22 June 2026

Definition of glimmers

Noun

Unlike previous studies, which examined bits of hair and bone fragments in wolf scat to determine what the animals ate, the UC Davis researchers used DNA analysis to determine the makeup of the samples.

— Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 8 July 2026
But as memory makers try to build higher stacks to pack in more bits and bandwidth, experts worry this high bandwidth-memory (HBM) will trap enough heat to cook itself into oblivion.

— IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Spectrum, 8 July 2026

Definition of bits

Browse Nearby Words

shard

shards

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Shards.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shards. Accessed 15 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of shards

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster on shards

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

loquacious

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

Popular in Wordplay

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Games & Quizzes