broken

1. participlepastpast participle of break

comparative more broken · superlative most broken

1. Fragmented; in separate pieces.

   One recent morning the team had to replace a broken weather research station.

   1 more example

   Local people say there were Russian and Chechen forces here.[…]Over here on the wall, one interesting detail- a single word, which someone has written in broken English: "Sori".

   2022 September 15, 2:33 from the start, in President Zelensky visits frontline as Ukraine reclaims more territory - BBC News, BBC News, archived from the original on 15 Sep 2022

   1. Fractured; having the bone in pieces.

      My arm is broken!

      1 more example

      The ground was littered with broken bones.

      Synonyms: burst, split

   2. Split or ruptured.

      A dog bit my leg and now the skin is broken.

   3. Dashed; made up of short lines with small gaps between each one and the next.
   4. Interrupted; not continuous.

      Then the circle would lie down again, and here and there a wolf would resume its broken nap.

      1906 May–October, Jack London, White Fang, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC

      Synonyms: intermittent, spasmodic, fitful, ragged, catchy, discontinuous, intermissive, intermittent

   5. climatologyFive-eighths to seven-eighths obscured by clouds; incompletely covered by clouds.

      Tomorrow: broken skies.

   6. Having periods of silence scattered throughout; not regularly continuous.

      A cuckoo sat on a gate-post singing his broken June tune[.]

      1906, Rudyard Kipling, Puck of Pook's Hill, London: Penguin Books, published 1994, page 9

2. etcBreached; violated; not kept.

   broken vows

   2 more examples

   broken promises of neutrality

   the broken covenant

   Synonyms: violated

3. Non-functional; not functioning properly.

   I think my doorbell is broken.

   Synonyms: borked, malfunctioning, bad, borked, broken-down, bum, bung, busted

   1. Disconnected, no longer open or carrying traffic.

      Synonyms: borked, malfunctioning, bad, borked, broken-down, bum, bung, busted

   2. informalBadly designed or implemented.

      This is the most broken application I've seen in a long time.

      Synonyms: borked, malfunctioning, bad, borked, broken-down, bum, bung, busted

   3. Grammatically non-standard, especially as a result of being produced by a non-native speaker.

      Don't say it in Russian / Don't say it in German / Say it in broken English

      1979, “Broken English”, performed by Marianne Faithfull

      1 more example

      His conversation was in French with Mailey and Roxton, who both spoke the language well, but he had to fall back upon broken English with Malone, who could only utter still more broken French in reply.

      1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019

      Synonyms: borked, malfunctioning, bad, borked, broken-down, bum, bung, busted

   4. UScolloquialNot having gone in the way intended; saddening.

      Oh man! That is just broken!

      Synonyms: borked, malfunctioning, bad, borked, broken-down, bum, bung, busted

4. Completely defeated and dispirited; shattered; destroyed.

   The bankruptcy and divorce, together with the death of his son, left him completely broken.

   2 more examples

   He said, "Son, when you grow up / Would you be the savior of the broken / The beaten, and the damned?"

   2006, “Welcome to the Black Parade”, in The Black Parade, performed by My Chemical Romance

   And oh, maybe I see a part of me in them / The missing piece, always trying to fit in / The shattered heart, hungry for a home / No, you're not alone / I love the broken ones / I love the broken ones

   2011, Dia Frampton, “The Broken Ones”, in Red, performed by Dia Frampton

   Synonyms: beaten, rekt, wrecked, foiled, beaten, bested, confounded, conquered

5. Having no money; bankrupt, broke.

   Synonyms: destitute, skint, almsless, arm, badly off, bankrupt, beggared, beggarly

6. Uneven.

   All that day they rode into broken land. The prairie with its grass and rolling hills was behind them, and they entered a sparse, dry, rocky country, full of draws and short cañons and ominous buttresses.

   2005, Will Cook, Until Darkness Disappears, page 54

7. hobbiesOverpowered; overly powerful; giving a player too much power.

   This item is incredibly broken. I win almost every run I get to use it.

   Synonyms: OP, unbalanced

1. derogatoryslangTorres Strait Creole.