MEANING
1. To break suddenly into many sharp pieces, or to damage something profoundly.
2. To severely damage someone’s hopes, confidence, composure, or sense of security.
Use it for
Give a physical or emotional break a sharp, irreversible force.Use for violent breakage or the sudden collapse of confidence.
Words that belong together
- shatter glass
- shatter a silence
- shatter someone’s confidence
- shatter confidence
- shatter hopes
- shatter an illusion
On the page
The bottle shattered on the stone floor.
The message shattered the calm she had practiced all morning.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Word forms
- Base
- shatter
- Past tense
- shattered
- Past participle
- shattered
- Present participle
- shattering
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- shatter
- Present continuous
- am/is/are shattering
- Present perfect
- have/has shattered
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been shattering
- Past
- shattered
- Past continuous
- was/were shattering
- Past perfect
- had shattered
- Past perfect continuous
- had been shattering
- Future
- will shatter
- Future continuous
- will be shattering
- Future perfect
- will have shattered
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been shattering
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
The physical sense usually involves brittle material; figurative use describes a severe collapse of hopes, confidence, or composure. Sense 2: Figurative use is forceful; it signals deep damage rather than ordinary disappointment.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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