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

Meanwhile, epidemiologist Susan Mayne said the government has responded slowly to the record-shattering outbreak that started in May, which demonstrates how the nation's federal food safety programs are in disarray. — Yuki Noguchi, NPR, 20 Aug. 2026

Majdi described his son’s birth in near-metaphysical terms, his own grief as shattering. — Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 20 Aug. 2026

France was about to experience a record-shattering heat wave, with ninety-degree weather, in a time of year that, for as long as anyone can remember, has always been lovely and mild. — Eric Klinenberg, New Yorker, 20 Aug. 2026

In 2018 a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 fan blade snapped, shattering a window and sucking a woman’s head and torso outside of the plane. — Alexandra Skores, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2026

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Ace protected the three deputies from Bowers but was shot in his left front leg, shattering the bone and tearing an artery that caused massive blood loss. — Michael Sinkewicz, FOXNews.com, 12 Aug. 2026

Katie Ledecky caps off one of the greatest performances in Olympic history with her fourth gold medal and second world record, shattering her own mark in the 800-meter freestyle. — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2026

But after a fireball erupted at last year’s Idaho’s Potato Drop, injuring a child and shattering windows, the event’s CEO, Dylan Cline, cheered the explosion and asserted the event wouldn’t be back to the downtown site near the Idaho Capitol. — Idaho Statesman, 12 Aug. 2026

One strike hit the grounds of a children’s hospital, leaving two craters and shattering windows, the State Emergency Service said. — ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026