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
The transcript shows the chaos as Mortensen and Funke pass the phone between them answering the dispatcher in fragmented responses.
—Lauren Del Valle, CNN, 7 Mar. 2025
The Legacy Of Fragmented Tools One of our most revealing insights, echoed by IDC's 2023 North American Tools/Vendors Consolidation Survey, is the prevalence of fragmented toolsets.
—Aviv Mussinger, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025
Meanwhile, patients suffer as a result, facing fragmented care, rising healthcare costs, and declining life expectancy.
—Kyle J. Russell, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2025
High electricity prices and operational costs are hampering overall demand in the region, leading to a more fragmented market.
—April Roach, CNBC, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fragmented
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Lauren Del Valle, CNN, 7 Mar. 2025
The Legacy Of Fragmented Tools One of our most revealing insights, echoed by IDC's 2023 North American Tools/Vendors Consolidation Survey, is the prevalence of fragmented toolsets.
—Aviv Mussinger, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025
Meanwhile, patients suffer as a result, facing fragmented care, rising healthcare costs, and declining life expectancy.
—Kyle J. Russell, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2025
High electricity prices and operational costs are hampering overall demand in the region, leading to a more fragmented market.
—April Roach, CNBC, 5 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 13 Mar. 2025.
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