broken
broken Lexical Profile
broken Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Having been fractured, shattered, or damaged so as to be in pieces or no longer in working order.
"Please sweep up the broken glass before someone steps on it."
Not kept, honored, or fulfilled, as a promise, contract, or law.
"Trust is difficult to rebuild after a series of broken promises."
Interrupted, discontinuous, or uneven in surface, course, or sequence.
"The hikers carefully navigated the broken terrain along the base of the cliff."
Overwhelmed by grief, despair, or misfortune; crushed in spirit.
"After years of hardship and loss, he returned home a broken man."
Spoken imperfectly, haltingly, or with many grammatical errors, typically by a non-native speaker.
"The tourist managed to ask for directions to the train station in broken Spanish."
Word Nuance & Usage
While 'broken' means physically damaged, 'broke' is used in informal speech to mean penniless; using 'broke' as a past participle (e.g., 'the window is broke') is non-standard.
• Rhymes for broken
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'brocen', the past participle of 'brecan' (to break), from Proto-Germanic '*brekaną'.