broken
adjUK /ˈbɹəʊ.kn̩/ · US /ˈbɹoʊ.kɪn/
Etymology From Middle English broken, from Old English brocen, ġebrocen, from Proto-Germanic *brukanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”). Cognate with Dutch gebroken (“broken”), German Low German broken (“broken”), German gebrochen (“broken”). Morphologically broke + -n.
17 senses
- 1Fragmented; in separate pieces.
- 2Fractured; having the bone in pieces.
- 3Split or ruptured.
- 4Dashed; made up of short lines with small gaps between…
- 5Interrupted; not continuous.
- 6Five-eighths to seven-eighths obscured by clouds…
- 7Having periods of silence scattered throughout; not…
- 8Breached; violated; not kept.
- 9Non-functional; not functioning properly.
- 10Disconnected, no longer open or carrying traffic.
- 11Badly designed or implemented.
- 12Grammatically non-standard, especially as a result of…
- 13Not having gone in the way intended; saddening.
- 14Completely defeated and dispirited; shattered; destroyed.
- 15Having no money; bankrupt, broke.
- 16Uneven.
- 17Overpowered; overly powerful; giving a player too much power.
Fragmented; in separate pieces.
- One recent morning the team had to replace a broken weather research station.
- Local people say there were Russian and Chechen forces here.[…]Over here on the wall, one interesting detail- a single word, which someone has written in broken English: "Sori".2022 September 15, 2:33 from the start, in President Zelensky visits frontline as Ukraine reclaims more territory - BBC News, BBC News, archived from the original on 15 Sep 2022:
Fractured; having the bone in pieces.
Of a bone or body part
- My arm is broken!
- The ground was littered with broken bones.
Of skin Split or ruptured.
- A dog bit my leg and now the skin is broken.
Of a line Dashed; made up of short lines with small gaps between each one and the next.
Of sleep Interrupted; not continuous.
- Then the circle would lie down again, and here and there a wolf would resume its broken nap.1906 May–October, Jack London, White Fang, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC:
Climatology, Meteorology, Natural sciences Of the sky Five-eighths to seven-eighths obscured by clouds; incompletely covered by clouds.
- Tomorrow: broken skies.
Of a melody Having periods of silence scattered throughout; not regularly continuous.
- A cuckoo sat on a gate-post singing his broken June tune[.]1906, Rudyard Kipling, Puck of Pook's Hill, London: Penguin Books, published 1994, page 9:
Of a promise Breached; violated; not kept.
- broken promises of neutrality
- broken vows
1 more example
- the broken covenant
Non-functional; not functioning properly.
- I think my doorbell is broken.
Of an electronic connection Disconnected, no longer open or carrying traffic.
Informal Badly designed or implemented.
- This is the most broken application I've seen in a long time.
Of language Grammatically non-standard, especially as a result of being produced by a non-native speaker.
- His conversation was in French with Mailey and Roxton, who both spoke the language well, but he had to fall back upon broken English with Malone, who could only utter still more broken French in reply.1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
- Don't say it in Russian / Don't say it in German / Say it in broken English1979, “Broken English”, performed by Marianne Faithfull:
US, Colloquial, Of a situation Not having gone in the way intended; saddening.
- Oh man! That is just broken!
Of a person Completely defeated and dispirited; shattered; destroyed.
- The bankruptcy and divorce, together with the death of his son, left him completely broken.
- He said, "Son, when you grow up / Would you be the savior of the broken / The beaten, and the damned?"2006, “Welcome to the Black Parade”, in The Black Parade, performed by My Chemical Romance:
1 more example
- And oh, maybe I see a part of me in them / The missing piece, always trying to fit in / The shattered heart, hungry for a home / No, you're not alone / I love the broken ones / I love the broken ones2011, Dia Frampton, “The Broken Ones”, in Red, performed by Dia Frampton:
Having no money; bankrupt, broke.
Of land Uneven.
- All that day they rode into broken land. The prairie with its grass and rolling hills was behind them, and they entered a sparse, dry, rocky country, full of draws and short cañons and ominous buttresses.2005, Will Cook, Until Darkness Disappears, page 54:
Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports, Video games Of a tactic or option Overpowered; overly powerful; giving a player too much power.
- This item is incredibly broken. I win almost every run I get to use it.
- Antonyms
- intact
- Derived terms
73 terms
a broken clock is right twice a day, breach, break, broke, Broken Arrow, broken arrow, broken-backed, broken bar, broken bird, broken bones, Broken Bow, broken breast, broken Britain, broken by design, broken chord, broken clock is right twice a day, broken clouds, broken consort, Broken Dam, broken diagonal, broken down, broken English, broken field, broken-handed, brokenhanded, Broken Head, broken heart, brokenhearted, broken-hearted, broken heart syndrome, broken-heart syndrome, Broken Hill, broken home, broken in, brokenly, broken man, broken-mouthed, brokenness, broken number, broken pipe, broken plural, broken power law, broken record, broken reed, broken rhyme, broken rice, broken skin, broken sleep, broken source, broken tail, broken telephone, broken time, broken vertical bar, broken vessel, broken wind, broken-winded, broken window, broken windows, broken windows policing, broken windows theory, broken window theory, broket, half-broken, house-broken, if it ain't broken, don't fix it, Landolt broken ring, Night of Broken Glass, nonbroken, shipbroken, the pitcher goes so often to the well that it is broken at last, trans broken arm syndrome, unbroken, walk on broken glass- Related terms
- damaged, leaking, out of order, piece, drunk
- Hypernyms
- deteriorated, fragmentary
- Hyponyms
- heartbroken, housebroken, jailbroken, burst, cracked, crazed, destroyed, divided, riven, shattered, split, smashed, wrecked