broken

Wikipedia

See also Broken

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: brōk'ən, IPA: /ˈbrəʊkən/, SAMPA: /"br@Uk@n/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊkən

Verb

broken

1. Past participle of break

Adjective

broken (comparative more broken, superlative most broken)

1. Fragmented, in separate pieces.
2. (of a body part) Having the bone in pieces, fractured.

   My arm is broken

3. (of a line) Dashed, made up of short lines with small gaps between each one and the next.
4. (of skin) Split or ruptured.

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

5. Not working properly.

   I think my shaver is broken.

6. Completely defeated and dispirited.

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

7. (pejorative, of language) Grammatically non-standard, especially as a result of being a non-native speaker.
8. Having no money, bankrupt, broke.
9. (of an electronic connection) Disconnected, no longer open or carrying traffic.
10. (software, informal) Badly designed or implemented.

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

11. (meteorology, of the sky) Five-eighths to seven-eighths obscured by clouds.

    Tomorrow broken skies.

12. (sports and gaming, of a tactic or option) Powerful enough to be considered overpowered.
13. (colloquial, US, of a situation) Not having gone in the way intended; saddening.

    Oh man! That is just broken!

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "broken" is often applied: glass, vase, cup, mirror, window, bone, wing, leg, arm, hand, foot, egg, tool, sword, column, road, bridge, stick, device, machine, camera, TV, car, computer, promise, vow, law, trust, dream, relationship, friendship, love, family, marriage, bond, tie, silence, ground, land, circle, image, language, spirit, soul.

Related terms

• breach

Translations

fragmented

Arabic: مكسور (ar) (maksuur) Bulgarian: счупен (bg) Chinese: Mandarin: 破碎 (cmn) (pòsuì), (+ -的 -de) 打破 dǎpò (cmn), 壞 (cmn), 坏 (cmn) (huài) Croatian: razbijen (hr) Dutch: gebroken, geknakt Esperanto: disrompita (eo) Finnish: rikki (fi), hajalla (fi) French: cassé (fr), brisé (fr), rompu (fr)

Galician: crebado (gl), quebrado (gl) German: gebrochen (de) Irish: briste (ga) Japanese: 壊れた (ja) (kowareta), 割れた (ja) (wareta) Khmer: ដែលបែក (km) (daelbaek) Polish: połamany (pl) Russian: сломанный (ru) (slómannyj) Scottish Gaelic: briste (gd) Swedish: bruten (sv) Turkish: kırık (tr)

having the bone in pieces, fractured

Bulgarian: счупен (bg) Chamicuro: katsala'taka (fractured) Croatian: slomljen (hr) Dutch: gebroken, verbijzeld

Finnish: murtunut (fi) Irish: briste (ga) Swedish: bruten (sv) Turkish: kırık (tr)

of a line: dashed

Finnish: katkoviivainen (fi) German: gestrichelt (de) Portuguese: tracejada (pt) f.

of skin: split or ruptured

Bulgarian: разкъсан (bg) Dutch: gebroken, opengereten

Finnish: rikki (fi) Swedish: brusten (sv)

not working properly

Armenian: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: разбит (bg), повреден (bg) Czech: rozbitý (cs) m. Dutch: defect (nl), kapot (nl) Esperanto: difektita (eo), rompita (eo) Finnish: rikkinäinen (fi), rikki (fi), epäkunnossa (fi) Georgian: გაკოტრებული (ka) (gakotrebuli) German: gebrochen (de), kaputt (de), kaputt (de)

Greek: χαλασμένος (el) Irish: briste (ga) Persian: خراب (fa) (xarâb) Romanian: please add this translation if you can Slovene: pokvarjen m., pokvarjena f., pokvarjeno n. Swedish: trasig (sv) Turkish: please add this translation if you can

completely defeated and dispirited

Bulgarian: съсипан (bg) Dutch: gebroken (nl), gekraakt (nl) Finnish: murtunut (fi)

German: gebrochen (de), zerstört (de) Slovene: zlomljen m., zlomljena f., zlomljeno n. Swedish: bruten (sv)

poorly spoken

Dutch: gebroken (nl) Finnish: murrettu (fi), murteellinen (fi) German: gebrochen (de)

Irish: briste (ga) Swedish: bruten (sv)

having no money

Bulgarian: разорен (bg) Dutch: gepluimd (nl), blut (nl)

Finnish: puhki (fi), rahaton (fi) Swedish: pank (sv)

disconnected

Bulgarian: прекъснат (bg) Dutch: afgebroken (nl), verbroken (nl)

Finnish: katkennut (fi) Swedish: bruten (sv)

of software: badly designed or implemented

Dutch: kaduuk (nl) Finnish: surkea (fi)

Swedish: trasig (sv)

meteorology: five eighths to seven eighths obscured by clouds

Finnish: melko pilvinen (fi)

Swedish: mulen (sv)

sports and gaming: a very powerful tactic

Finnish: ratkaiseva (fi)

German: unfair (de)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Greek: σπασμένος (el) (spasmenos) Hebrew: שבור (shavur) (1,2,4); מקולקל (mequlqal) m., מקולקלת (mequlqelet) f. (3) Indonesian: pecah, patah, retak, rusak Italian: in avaria Latin: fractus Slovene: zlomljen

Spanish: roto (1, 2), desfuncionado Telugu: ముక్కలైన (mukkalaina), బద్దలైన (baddalaina), వ్రక్కలైన (vrakkalaina), విరిగిన (virigina) (1) Turkish: kırık, bölünmüş Vietnamese: bị vỡ (1, 2), bị bể (1)

Derived terms

a broken clock is right twice a day broke broken home brokenly brokenness broken arrow broken by design

broken heart, brokenhearted broken in broken promise broken wind heartbroken housebroken broken skin

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: follow · chance · happened · #641: broken · trouble · die · arm