broken
1. physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split (Freq. 16)
- a broken mirror
- a broken tooth
- a broken leg
- his neck is broken
• Ant:
unbroken
• See Also:
damaged, imperfect, injured, unsound
• Attrubites:
integrity, unity, wholeness
2. not continuous in space, time, or sequence or varying abruptly (Freq. 1)
- broken lines of defense
- a broken cable transmission
- broken sleep
- tear off the stub above the broken line
- a broken note
- broken sobs
• Ant:
unbroken
• Similar to:
broken-field, dashed, dotted, fitful, interrupted,
off-and-on, halting
• See Also:
discontinuous, noncontinuous
3. subdued or brought low in condition or status (Freq. 1)
- brought low
- a broken man
- his broken spirit
• Syn:
crushed, humbled, humiliated, low
• Similar to:
humble
• Derivationally related forms:
lowness (for: low)
4. (especially of promises or contracts) having been violated or disregarded
- broken (or unkept) promises
- broken contracts
• Syn:
unkept
• Ant:
unbroken
• Topics:
contract
5. tamed or trained to obey
- a horse broken to the saddle
- this old nag is well broken in
• Syn:
broken in
• Similar to:
tame, tamed
6. topographically very uneven
- broken terrain
- rugged ground
• Syn:
rugged
• Similar to:
rough, unsmooth
• Derivationally related forms:
ruggedness (for: rugged)
7. imperfectly spoken or written
- broken English
• Similar to:
imperfect
8. thrown into a state of disarray or confusion
- troops fleeing in broken ranks
- a confused mass of papers on the desk
- the small disordered room
- with everything so upset
• Syn:
confused, disordered, upset
• Similar to:
disorganized, disorganised
9. weakened and infirm
- broken health resulting from alcoholism
• Similar to:
impaired
10. destroyed financially
- the broken fortunes of the family
• Syn:
wiped out, impoverished
• Similar to:
destroyed
11. out of working order ('busted' is an informal substitute for 'broken')
- a broken washing machine
- the coke machine is broken
- the coke machine is busted
• Syn:
busted
• Similar to:
damaged
• Usage Domain:
colloquialism
12. discontinuous
- broken clouds
- broken sunshine
• Similar to:
distributed
• Topics:
meteorology
13. lacking a part or parts
- a broken set of encyclopedia
• Similar to:
incomplete, uncomplete
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