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
Digital tools can create fragmented data silos, increasing inefficiency and costs.
—Jennifer Nuckles, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2025
According to Israeli data, most of Hamas’s senior command has been eliminated and only fragmented units remain.
—Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 26 Mar. 2025
Many healthcare systems still operate in a fragmented data landscape, relying on a patchwork of legacy systems originally designed for an FFS model.
—David Snow, Forbes, 25 Mar. 2025
Heavy breathing and crying can be heard in audio of the 911 call as the surviving roommates pass the phone between them and what sounds like two other people, answering the dispatcher in fragmented responses.
—Taylor Romine, CNN, 22 Mar. 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.
Jennifer Nuckles, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2025
According to Israeli data, most of Hamas’s senior command has been eliminated and only fragmented units remain.
—Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 26 Mar. 2025
Many healthcare systems still operate in a fragmented data landscape, relying on a patchwork of legacy systems originally designed for an FFS model.
—David Snow, Forbes, 25 Mar. 2025
Heavy breathing and crying can be heard in audio of the 911 call as the surviving roommates pass the phone between them and what sounds like two other people, answering the dispatcher in fragmented responses.
—Taylor Romine, CNN, 22 Mar. 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 15 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share