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
Jared DiamondThe 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
Peter Bart2
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
Brett GlassYou probably won't notice a marked performance boost unless your hard drive is extremely fragmented.—Doug Stanley
Doug StanleyExamples of fragmented in a Sentence
restoring the fragmented Roman sculpture was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle
Recent Examples on the Web
This fragmented system creates inefficiencies, increases costs, and opens the door to fraud.
—Natalia Karayaneva, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025
Even though sports instruction for tikes is a highly fragmented business, Bredeman and partners recognized that franchises in any business segment end up in periods of consolidation where some players get large and others wither away.
—Brendan Coffey, Sportico.com, 22 Apr. 2025
Many other barriers slow innovation and competitiveness in Europe much more than regulations do: the continent’s fragmented digital single market, lack of deep and integrated capital markets, restrictive immigration policies, inflexible labor markets, and risk-averse entrepreneurial culture.
—Anu Bradford, Foreign Affairs, 21 Apr. 2025
All link back to an endless war and a homeland as fragmented as the narrator’s consciousness and soul.
—Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fragmented
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Natalia Karayaneva, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025
Even though sports instruction for tikes is a highly fragmented business, Bredeman and partners recognized that franchises in any business segment end up in periods of consolidation where some players get large and others wither away.
—Brendan Coffey, Sportico.com, 22 Apr. 2025
Many other barriers slow innovation and competitiveness in Europe much more than regulations do: the continent’s fragmented digital single market, lack of deep and integrated capital markets, restrictive immigration policies, inflexible labor markets, and risk-averse entrepreneurial culture.
—Anu Bradford, Foreign Affairs, 21 Apr. 2025
All link back to an endless war and a homeland as fragmented as the narrator’s consciousness and soul.
—Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fragmented
Cite this Entry
“Fragmented.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fragmented. Accessed 28 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share