fragmented

adjective

frag·​ment·​ed ˈfrag-ˌmen-təd 

1

: broken or separated into distinct parts

Another fragmented language group is the Austroasiatic family, whose most widely spoken languages are Vietnamese and Cambodian.

—Jared Diamond

The reality seems to be that the global audience for movies has become increasingly diverse and fragmented, which runs against Hollywood's obsession with finding that magic common denominator.

—Peter Bart

2

computing : having related or associated pieces of stored data disorganized in a way that makes them more difficult to access

Fragmented files require much more work to read than contiguous files, because to do so DOS must chase down each sector, possibly moving the disk head back and forth many times. Each of these … slows the task at hand and results in additional wear and tear on your hard disk.

—Brett Glass

You probably won't notice a marked performance boost unless your hard drive is extremely fragmented.

—Doug Stanley

Synonyms

• broken
• busted
• fractured
• shattered
• smashed

Examples of fragmented in a Sentence

restoring the fragmented Roman sculpture was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle

Recent Examples on the Web

Once inaugurated, President Trump can speed things along by gathering the remnants of America’s sleepy and fragmented maritime bureaucracy under the umbrella of an empowered and dynamic maritime leader—in a new Cabinet-level post or a high-level Directorship at the National Security Council. —Craig Hooper, Forbes, 17 Jan. 2025

The start of congestion pricing only raises the stakes and our city cannot afford fragmented responses that fail to improve the situation. —Selvena Brooks-Powers, New York Daily News, 17 Jan. 2025

The record leans into muted melodies and minimalist instrumentation, letting its fragmented narratives of love and self-discovery linger in a way that feels authentic and reflective. —Georgia Mitropoulos, SPIN, 17 Jan. 2025

Meanwhile, progressive voices remain fragmented, siloed, and underfunded. —Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell, Newsweek, 16 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1817, in the meaning defined at sense 1