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PlainSpell

broken

/ˈbɹoʊ.kɪn/adjective, verb

broken is spelled B-R-O-K-E-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 76 times per million words in written English, the 1,394th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, broken means “Fragmented; in separate pieces” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in broken?

Letters6: B-R-O-K-E-N
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing76 times per million words; the 1,394th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is broken?

Broken appears 76 times per million words in written English, the 1,394th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce broken?

  • UK /ˈbɹəʊ.kn̩/
  • US /ˈbɹoʊ.kɪn/
  • US /ˈbɹoʊ.kən/

Broken has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-broken.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with broken?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as broken from its last stressed vowel (/oʊkɪn/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: bonker.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of broken

  • more broken comparative
  • most broken superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does broken mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Fragmented; in separate pieces.

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

  2. 2

    Fractured; having the bone in pieces.

    My arm is broken!

  3. 3

    Split or ruptured.

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

  4. 4

    Dashed; made up of short lines with small gaps between each one and the next.

  5. 5

    Interrupted; not continuous.

  6. 6

    Five-eighths to seven-eighths obscured by clouds; incompletely covered by clouds.

    Tomorrow: broken skies.

  7. 7

    Having periods of silence scattered throughout; not regularly continuous.

  8. 8

    Breached; violated; not kept.

    broken promises of neutrality

verb

  1. 1

    past participle of break (a form of break)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate broken?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of broken: BKN.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Broken in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcassé, brisé, rompu (not whole; fragmented), fracturé (having the bone in pieces, fractured), discontinu (of a line: dashed)
Germanzerbrochen, zersplittert (not whole; fragmented), gebrochen (having the bone in pieces, fractured), gestrichelt (of a line: dashed), aufgerissen (of skin: split or ruptured), kaputt (not working properly)
Portuguesequebrado (not whole; fragmented), fraturado (having the bone in pieces, fractured), tracejado (of a line: dashed), estragado (not working properly), destruído (completely defeated and dispirited)
Spanishroto, quebrado (not whole; fragmented), fracturado (having the bone in pieces, fractured), discontinuo (of a line: dashed), cortado (of skin: split or ruptured)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does broken come from?

From Middle English broken, from Old English brocen, ġebrocen, from Proto-Germanic *brukanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”). Cognate with Dutch gebroken (“broken”), German Low German broken (“broken”), German gebrochen (“broken”). Morphologically broke + -n.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after broken