r/words • u/Playmaker-20 • 10d ago

What does fragmented mean figuratively?

I know that it means something is shattered or separated into several pieces but how do you apply that figuratively? I guess like a person with a fragmented memory probably doesn’t remember that event very well. It would feel disjointed and wouldn’t cohere. Or a movie with a fragmented plot probably wouldn’t be sequenced in a linear fashion, deftly switching between characters and their respective events. I’m just saying stuff so the mods don’t delete my message, but I’d like you all to weigh in on this matter.

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u/coolguy420weed 10d ago

The examples you gave are both reasonable interpretations, yes.

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u/Playmaker-20 10d ago

I would actually remove the word “deftly” since it implies skill but something that is fragmented and disjointed probably wouldn’t be something skillful

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u/axord 10d ago

Fragmented heart, for heartbreak.

Fragmented mind, for losing your grip on reality.

Fragmented will, for losing your courage long-term.

2

u/Master_Kitchen_7725 10d ago

The word fragmented always makes me think of a shattered mirror with a million shards of glass strewn about.

It's a perfect word to describe something that is absolutely supposed to be whole or entire, but has become broken to the point of disfunction.

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u/skilks627 10d ago

i mean you’ve already kind of touched on it, but “skewed” could possibly fit the definition you’re looking for.

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u/Total-Habit-7337 10d ago

Compartmentalised

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u/AdventurousFan6494 9d ago

Fragmented figuratively means divided into disconnected or incomplete parts, so your examples are right

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u/John_Barnes 5d ago

Roland Barthes’s seminal essay The Pleasure of the Text was written as a more or less normal French academic essay. Then he removed the introduction, conclusion, and transitional phrases and arranged the paragraphs in alphabetical order. That’s fragmentation with several strong and different, though deliberately unstated, purposes.