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
Consumer preferences are shifting faster than ever. Data silos and fragmented insights create a sense of collaboration that resembles a game of broken telephone.
—Dileep Rai, Forbes.com, 16 July 2025
The story, separated into three sections—Blue, Red, and White—travels a spiraled, associative, and fragmented path, making persistent returns to the events connected to the photograph.
—Rachel Vorona Cote, The Atlantic, 15 July 2025
That fragmented global access was not what Paramount had in mind ahead of the season 27 premiere of South Park, which is set to bow on Comedy Central in the U.S. and internationally on July 23, two weeks later than originally planned.
—Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 14 July 2025
To win young customers who grow up in today’s fragmented attention economy, leaders need to deploy strategies specifically tailored to the emotional and identity needs of these individuals.
—Por Yang Li, Harvard Business Review, 10 July 2025
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Dileep Rai, Forbes.com, 16 July 2025
The story, separated into three sections—Blue, Red, and White—travels a spiraled, associative, and fragmented path, making persistent returns to the events connected to the photograph.
—Rachel Vorona Cote, The Atlantic, 15 July 2025
That fragmented global access was not what Paramount had in mind ahead of the season 27 premiere of South Park, which is set to bow on Comedy Central in the U.S. and internationally on July 23, two weeks later than originally planned.
—Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 14 July 2025
To win young customers who grow up in today’s fragmented attention economy, leaders need to deploy strategies specifically tailored to the emotional and identity needs of these individuals.
—Por Yang Li, Harvard Business Review, 10 July 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 30 Jul. 2025.
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