Meanings
smithereens1
rare singular smithereen
- informalpluralplural onlyFragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items.
The urn shattered into smithereens the moment it hit the ground.
3 more examples
When the waiter dropped the platter, one smithereen struck him above the knee, and the four remaining smithereens scattered across the floor.
The world's smallest violin / Really needs an audience / So if I do not find somebody soon (That's right, that's right) / I'll blow up into smithereens
2021 March 26, AJR, “World's Smallest Violin”, in OK Orchestra, US: AJR Productions, BMG Rights Management, →OCLCHowever, something once happened on the railway there which showed the very best of mankind: heroism, duty, self-sacrifice and calm professionalism under terrible pressure. It is a story which gives us far, far better reasons for remembering this attractive little town, which without these heroes would have been blown to smithereens in a gigantic explosion. (Two railwaymen lost their lives in 1944 when a wagon in an ammunition train caught fire and blew up, an even worse disaster was averted however.)
2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 42Synonyms: shards, shivereens, smithers
Smithereens2
- pluralplural of Smithereen
Synonyms & antonyms
nounFragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items.
Origin
- Irishsmidiríní
- Englishsmithereens
Uncertain. The following words, all first attested later than the headword, have been compared: * Irish smidiríní, smiodairíní (“smithereens”), from smiodar (“broken piece, fragment”) + -ín (suffix forming diminutive nouns) + -í (slender form of -aí (suffix forming plurals of some nouns)). * smither (“fragment; atom”), which would be suffixed with -een (forming diminutive nouns in Irish English). * Hiberno-English (Wexford) smaddereen, a variant of smattering (“small amount or number of something; shallow or superficial knowledge of a subject”). * Hiberno-English (Wexford) smithered, smashed
More words from Irish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian парчета, отломки
- парчета (parčeta)fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
- отломки (otlomki)fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Chinese Mandarin 碎片, 齏粉 /齑粉
- 碎片 (suìpiàn)fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
- 齏粉 /齑粉 (jīfěn)fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Czech padrť, cimprcampr
- padrťfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
- cimprcamprfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Dutch gruzelementen
- gruzelementenfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Finnish murska, säpäleet
- murskafragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
- säpäleetfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
- sirpaleetfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
- päreiksifragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
- tuusannuuskafragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
French miettes
- miettesfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
German Splitter, Stücke
- Splitterfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
- Stückefragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
- Stückchenfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Hebrew רְסִיסִים
- רְסִיסִים (r'sisím)fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Italian frantumi
- frantumifragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Japanese 欠片 木っ端微塵
- 欠片 木っ端微塵 (kakera)fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Korean 산산조각
- 산산조각 (sansanjogak)fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Norwegian Bokmål småbiter m pl tusen knas, fillebiter
- småbiter m pl tusen knasfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
- fillebiterfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Polish kawałeczki
- kawałeczkifragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Portuguese pedacinhos
- pedacinhosfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Romanian bucățele
- bucățelefragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Russian черепки, осколки
- черепки (čerepki)fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
- осколки (oskolki)fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Spanish añicos, pedazos
- añicosfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
- pedazosfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
- trozosfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
- cacharrosfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
- trizasfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Swedish småbitar
- småbitarfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Thai ผุยผง
- ผุยผงfragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with smithereens
Cite this entry
smithereens. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smithereens
“smithereens.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smithereens. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “smithereens,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smithereens.
Source: smithereens on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.