VocabauraVOCABAURA

fragment

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A piece broken off or cut off of something else.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

fragmuhnt

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈfɹæɡmənt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A piece broken off or cut off of something else

  2. A part broken off; a small, detached portion; an imperfect part, either physically or not

  3. grammar

    A sentence not containing a subject or a predicate; a sentence fragment.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To break apart.

  2. Break or cause to break into pieces

  3. transitive

    To cause to be broken into pieces.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Varies by meaning

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A piece broken off or cut off of something else

Used this way, fragment is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use fragment

  • “We found a small fragment of pottery at the ancient archaeological site.”

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “fragment”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Incomplete

code fragment

Sentence

sentence fragment

Part broken off

small fragment

Other combinations

restriction fragmentdna fragmentfragment lengthlarge fragmentlower fragment

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • restriction fragmentnounCompound term

    The fragment of DNA that is produced by cleaving DNA with a restriction enzyme.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • fragmentation bombnounRelated term

    A bomb with only 10 to 20 per cent explosive and the remainder consisting of casings designed to break into many small high-velocity fragments.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to break apart

break up

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Keep learning “fragment” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.

Want to type words like this one without looking at the keyboard? Each typing round draws from words you've learned, saved or need to review. Follow the free Learn to Type lessons and type your own vocabulary with confidence.

Know the meaning? Practice vocabulary in real situations.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.