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Shatter vs Disintegrate - What's the difference?

shatter | disintegrate | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between shatter and disintegrate

is that shatter is to dispirit or emotionally defeat while disintegrate is to undo the integrity of, break into parts.

In intransitive terms the difference between shatter and disintegrate

is that shatter is to smash, or break into tiny pieces while disintegrate is to fall apart, break up into parts.

As a noun shatter

is a fragment of anything shattered.

shatter

Verb

(en verb)
  • to violently break something into pieces.
  • The miners used dynamite to shatter rocks.
    a high-pitched voice that could shatter glass
    The old oak tree has been shattered by lightning.
  • to destroy or disable something.
  • to smash, or break into tiny pieces.
  • to dispirit or emotionally defeat
  • to be shattered''' in intellect; to have '''shattered''' hopes, or a '''shattered constitution
  • * 1984 Martyn Burke, The commissar's report, p36
  • Your death will shatter him. Which is what I want. Actually, I would prefer to kill him.
  • * 1992 Rose Gradym "Elvis Cures Teen's Brain Cancer!" Weekly World News , Vol. 13, No. 38 (23 June, 1992), p41
  • A CAT scan revealed she had an inoperable brain tumor. The news shattered Michele's mother.
  • * 2006 A. W. Maldonado, Luis Muñoz Marín: Puerto Rico's democratic revolution, p163
  • The marriage, of course, was long broken but Munoz knew that asking her for a divorce would shatter her.
  • * Norris
  • a man of a loose, volatile, and shattered humour
  • (obsolete) To scatter about.
  • * Milton
  • Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (archaic) A fragment of anything shattered.
  • to break a glass into shatters
    (Jonathan Swift)

    disintegrate

    English

    Verb

    (disintegrat)
  • To undo the integrity of, break into parts.
  • * Kirwan
  • Marlites are not disintegrated by exposure to the atmosphere, at least in six years.
  • To fall apart, break up into parts.
  • Synonyms

    * (qualifier) dismember, dissolve * compost, decay, dissolve

    Antonyms

    * integrate

    Derived terms

    * disintegration * disintegrative * disintegrator