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 Cracking coalition That MAHA could fade out entirely or fracture into negligible shards seems like a very real possibility. — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 5 Nov. 2026 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

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 the edge of the fantastically thin solar crescent, the brilliant orange points known as Baily’s Beads flash and disappear—the last fragments of photospheric light visible through deep lunar valleys.

— IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Spectrum, 5 Nov. 2026
Meanwhile, the tray, crafted from natural capiz shell and embellished with gold leaf fragments, is a signature MacKenzie-Childs piece, reimagined to echo Dibs’ hero innovation, the Status Stick Face-and-Body Highlighter.

— Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of fragments

Noun

Viral particles can spread through the air and remain infectious for up to two hours, even after an infected person leaves the area.

— Jacqueline Howard, CNN Money, 4 Nov. 2026
As Earth plows through the debris streams, tiny particles slam into our atmosphere at 65,000 miles per hour (104,607 kilometers per hour), producing dazzling streaks of light across the night sky.

— Anthony Wood, Space.com, 4 Nov. 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

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

A lot of higher-frequency sound from machinery, bits of people’s conversations, and some general hum still came through.

— Mark Knapp, PC Magazine, 5 Nov. 2026
While most bits of ice and rock that burn up are the size of dust grains or pebbles, fireballs arise from debris ranging from the size of a marble to that of a small boulder.

— Dharma Niles, CNN Money, 4 Nov. 2026

Definition of bits

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“Shards.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shards. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of shards

noun

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