splinter
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A long, sharp fragment of material, often wood.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
splinterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsplɪntɚ
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A long, sharp fragment of material, often wood.
A small such fragment that gets embedded in the flesh.
A group that formed by splitting off from a larger membership.
verb
intransitive
To come apart into long sharp fragments.
figurativelyof a group
To break, or cause to break, into factions.
Break up into splinters or slivers
transitive
To fasten or confine with splinters, or splints, as a broken limb.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A long, sharp fragment of material, often wood.
Used this way, splinter 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 splinter
- “He got a splinter in his finger.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A faction or sect that has broken away from its parent organization.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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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.