Synonyms of shattering

shattering

verb

present participle of shatter

1

as in destroying

to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of

tried to restore their shattered hopes

Synonyms & Similar Words

• destroying
• ruining
• demolishing
• devastating
• smashing
• wrecking
• damaging
• overcoming
• eroding
• pulverizing
• wasting
• annihilating
• extinguishing
• decimating
• vaporizing
• breaking
• crushing
• marring
• crippling
• totaling
• razing
• ravaging
• wracking
• tearing down
• pulling down
• dismantling
• killing
• blasting
• creaming
• desolating
• doing in
• defeating
• removing
• rubbing out
• nuking
• disintegrating
• injuring
• subduing
• conquering
• impairing
• dissolving
• surmounting
• deteriorating
• harming
• prevailing (over)
• licking
• obliterating
• spoiling
• clobbering
• trimming
• whipping
• disfiguring
• mastering
• mutilating
• winning (against)
• mangling
• thrashing
• besting
• routing
• eradicating
• undoing
• wearing (away)
• beating
• dynamiting
• defacing
• triumphing (over)
• vitiating
• walloping
• sweeping (away)
• gutting
• scouring
• disassembling
• trampling
• expunging
• slaughtering
• blowing up
• trouncing
• sacking
• plundering
• washing out
• overmatching
• effacing
• wiping out
• exterminating
• assassinating
• murdering
• vandalizing
• scotching
• taking down
• extirpating
• overbearing
• executing
• liquidating
• drubbing
• looting
• despoiling
• trashing
• cutting down
• stamping (out)
• unmaking
• slaying
• blotting out
• massacring
• pillaging
• zapping
• rooting (out)
• dispatching
• killing off
• snuffing (out)
• skunking
• taking out
• butchering
• felling
• mowing (down)
• unbuilding
• dilapidating
• havocking

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• building
• raising
• constructing
• creating
• repairing
• erecting
• fixing
• setting up
• rearing
• forming
• producing
• making
• putting up
• shaping
• establishing
• forging
• inventing
• manufacturing
• assembling
• protecting
• framing
• constituting
• molding
• fashioning
• organizing
• preserving
• fabricating
• saving
• patching
• mending
• revamping
• reconditioning
• bringing about
• instituting
• founding
• restoring
• doctoring
• reconstructing
• rebuilding
• conserving
• remodeling
• fathering
• renovating

2

as in smashing

to cause to break open or into pieces by or as if by an explosive

shattered the sealed clay pot to find out what was inside

Synonyms & Similar Words

• smashing
• demolishing
• blowing
• destroying
• exploding
• bursting
• popping
• blasting
• detonating
• blowing up
• wrecking
• ruining
• decimating
• annihilating
• dynamiting
• splintering
• fragmenting
• discharging

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• collapsing
• imploding

3

as in demolishing

to cause to break with violence and much noise

shattered the priceless vase in one clumsy fall

Synonyms & Similar Words

• smashing
• destroying
• demolishing
• fracturing
• crashing
• splintering
• splitting
• wrecking
• crushing
• fragmenting
• cracking
• breaking down
• devastating
• ruining
• pulverizing
• vaporizing
• annihilating
• totaling
• wasting
• snapping
• decimating
• crunching
• shivering
• tearing down
• busting
• bashing
• desolating
• wracking
• nuking

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of shattering

Andrew Haigh is a master of restraint, a talent that he’s often weaponized against his own creations to beautiful and shattering effect. — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 4 Sep. 2026

Last year’s record-shattering monsoon season is heightening the urgency to invest in climate resilience. — Angelica Ang, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2026

Set in the present day, ghosts from the past of Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) finally catch up to him, shattering his peaceful retirement in Alaska. — Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 2 Sep. 2026

The video shows a customer walking out of Cinnaholic when the girls ride the scooter through the window, shattering the glass. — Adam Thompson, CBS News, 27 Aug. 2026

Wednesday, which was forecast to be the hottest day of the heat wave, brought record-shattering temperatures across the Southland. — Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026

For both artists, sweet dreams were made of shattering gender norms; Lennox just preferred her trailblazing with a little less dry humping. — Lisa Whittington-Hill, Longreads, 27 Aug. 2026

In 1985, the director Kevin Sullivan produced, with primary funding from the Canadian Broadcasting Company and support from PBS, a record-shattering Anne miniseries. — Literary Hub, 26 Aug. 2026

The video obtained by the group NorCal Bodycam and shared with ABC7 Bay Area appears to show the operator asleep before the train crashes into the rear of another train ahead of it, shattering window glass. — ABC News, 25 Aug. 2026