Fragmentary
adjective
Something that is incomplete or only a piece of the whole.
He had a fragmentary understanding of the topic.
Often appears as...
- fragmentary evidence
- fragmentary knowledge
adjective
Made of small pieces that are not connected or organized.
The ruins revealed only a fragmentary wall of the ancient castle.
Often appears as...
- fragmentary remains
- fragmentary structure
Usage tips
Formal
Academic
adjective
Existing in separate parts or not fully complete.
The manuscript was mostly fragmentary, missing many pages but still valuable for its historical context.
Often appears as...
- fragmentary manuscript
- fragmentary text
Usage tips
Formal
Academic
adjective
Something that is incomplete or only a piece of the whole.
He had a fragmentary understanding of the topic.
Often appears as...
- fragmentary evidence
- fragmentary knowledge
adjective
Made of small pieces that are not connected or organized.
The ruins revealed only a fragmentary wall of the ancient castle.
Often appears as...
- fragmentary remains
- fragmentary structure
Usage tips
Formal
Academic
adjective
Existing in separate parts or not fully complete.
The manuscript was mostly fragmentary, missing many pages but still valuable for its historical context.
Often appears as...
- fragmentary manuscript
- fragmentary text
Usage tips
Formal
Academic
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Partial Knowledge
Use 'fragmentary' when someone knows only a bit about a subject, not everything.
His fragmentary grasp of biology made the exam challenging.
Pro Tip 2/3Missing Pieces
'Fragmentary' implies something is missing, which keeps it from being complete.
She presented a fragmentary report that left us with questions.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Negative
The term 'fragmentary' doesn't always suggest a negative situation; it can be neutral.
We used the fragmentary clues to solve the puzzle.
Pro Tip 1/3Partial Knowledge
Use 'fragmentary' when someone knows only a bit about a subject, not everything.
His fragmentary grasp of biology made the exam challenging.
Pro Tip 2/3Missing Pieces
'Fragmentary' implies something is missing, which keeps it from being complete.
She presented a fragmentary report that left us with questions.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Negative
The term 'fragmentary' doesn't always suggest a negative situation; it can be neutral.
We used the fragmentary clues to solve the puzzle.
Pro Tip 1/3Partial Knowledge
Use 'fragmentary' when someone knows only a bit about a subject, not everything.
His fragmentary grasp of biology made the exam challenging.
Pro Tip 2/3Missing Pieces
'Fragmentary' implies something is missing, which keeps it from being complete.
She presented a fragmentary report that left us with questions.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Negative
The term 'fragmentary' doesn't always suggest a negative situation; it can be neutral.
We used the fragmentary clues to solve the puzzle.
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Video examples
Mammoths resurrected and...
climate change coming on very rapidly. We have to cease all extra production of greenhouse gases, especially CO2, as soon as possible, otherwise, we're in deep, deep trouble. All of that is true, but it's not the whole story, and the whole story is more interesting than these fragmentary stories.
Video examples
Part Ape, Part Human:...
teeth something in excess of 90% for almost every bone below the neck except for maybe a couple finger bones and some of the denser bones we have never found a complete bone in any early hominid everything's fragmentary for really rare things those
Video examples
Mammoths resurrected and...
climate change coming on very rapidly. We have to cease all extra production of greenhouse gases, especially CO2, as soon as possible, otherwise, we're in deep, deep trouble. All of that is true, but it's not the whole story, and the whole story is more interesting than these fragmentary stories.
Video examples
Part Ape, Part Human:...
teeth something in excess of 90% for almost every bone below the neck except for maybe a couple finger bones and some of the denser bones we have never found a complete bone in any early hominid everything's fragmentary for really rare things those
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Kage Baker
American Writer
1925's 'The Lost World' is... really, everything a dinosaur movie should be. Like a dinosaur, this classic was once extinct too, existing as mere fragmentary footage and stills, but cinemaphile fossil-hunters have painstakingly excavated bits and pieces from obscure archives and assembled them into a nearly-complete animal.
Quote examples
Floyd Skloot
American Poet
I think one of the primary themes in my work is the paradox of memory, at once fundamental to our sense of who we are and yet elusive, ever-changing, fragmentary. One way to look at this is to say that, therefore, we ourselves are elusive, ever-changing and fragmentary to ourselves.
Quote examples
Franklin Foer
American Writer
Computer scientists have built a set of massive DNS databases, which provide fragmentary histories of communications flows, in part to create an archive of malware: a kind of catalog of the tricks bad actors have tried to pull, which often involve masquerading as legitimate actors.
Quote examples
Del Close
American Actor
The kind of improv that I'm particularly addicted to is the kind that... aims at creating a momentary, fragmentary experience that has a totality to it. It's kind of like fireworks. It's the more ephemeral of art forms - once it's gone, it's gone, baby.
Quote examples
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
French Writer
Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree.
Quote examples
Jaron Lanier
American Artist
Anonymous blog comments, vapid video pranks and lightweight mash-ups may seem trivial and harmless, but as a whole, this widespread practice of fragmentary, impersonal communication has demeaned personal interaction.
Quote examples
George Oppen
American Poet
A discrete series is a series of terms each of which is empirically derived, each one of which is empirically true. And this is the reason for the fragmentary character of those poems.
Quote examples
Dominic Grieve
British Politician
Intelligence is fragmentary and hard to discover, so it is by joining forces and sharing information with our allies that we maximise our ability to protect ourselves.
Quote examples
Todd Rundgren
American Musician
I write in a very strange way. Things are very fragmentary for a very long time, and then they come together very quickly near the end of the process.
Quote examples
Sarah Churchwell
American Educator
If history starts as a guest list, it has a tendency to end like the memory of a drunken party: misheard, blurred, fragmentary.
Quote examples
Kage Baker
American Writer
1925's 'The Lost World' is... really, everything a dinosaur movie should be. Like a dinosaur, this classic was once extinct too, existing as mere fragmentary footage and stills, but cinemaphile fossil-hunters have painstakingly excavated bits and pieces from obscure archives and assembled them into a nearly-complete animal.
Quote examples
Floyd Skloot
American Poet
I think one of the primary themes in my work is the paradox of memory, at once fundamental to our sense of who we are and yet elusive, ever-changing, fragmentary. One way to look at this is to say that, therefore, we ourselves are elusive, ever-changing and fragmentary to ourselves.
Quote examples
Franklin Foer
American Writer
Computer scientists have built a set of massive DNS databases, which provide fragmentary histories of communications flows, in part to create an archive of malware: a kind of catalog of the tricks bad actors have tried to pull, which often involve masquerading as legitimate actors.
Quote examples
Del Close
American Actor
The kind of improv that I'm particularly addicted to is the kind that... aims at creating a momentary, fragmentary experience that has a totality to it. It's kind of like fireworks. It's the more ephemeral of art forms - once it's gone, it's gone, baby.
Quote examples
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
French Writer
Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree.
Quote examples
Jaron Lanier
American Artist
Anonymous blog comments, vapid video pranks and lightweight mash-ups may seem trivial and harmless, but as a whole, this widespread practice of fragmentary, impersonal communication has demeaned personal interaction.
Quote examples
George Oppen
American Poet
A discrete series is a series of terms each of which is empirically derived, each one of which is empirically true. And this is the reason for the fragmentary character of those poems.
Quote examples
Dominic Grieve
British Politician
Intelligence is fragmentary and hard to discover, so it is by joining forces and sharing information with our allies that we maximise our ability to protect ourselves.
Quote examples
Todd Rundgren
American Musician
I write in a very strange way. Things are very fragmentary for a very long time, and then they come together very quickly near the end of the process.
Quote examples
Sarah Churchwell
American Educator
If history starts as a guest list, it has a tendency to end like the memory of a drunken party: misheard, blurred, fragmentary.
Example 1 of 10
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