shatter
shat·ter/ˈʃætə/verb, noun
shatter is spelled S-H-A-T-T-E-R: 7 letters and 2 syllables (shat·ter). It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, shatter means “Of brittle solid materials (like glass or ice), to violently break into pieces” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in shatter?
| Letters | 7: S-H-A-T-T-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: shat·ter |
| In writing | 1.7 times per million words; the 21,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 shatter?
Shatter appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th 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 shatter?
- UK /ˈʃætə/
- British /ˈʃatə/
- /ˈʃɛtə/
Shatter has 2 syllables, split shat·ter in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-shatter.wav, En-us-shatter.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with shatter?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as shatter from its last stressed vowel (/ætə/, British pronunciation):
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 shatter
- shatters present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- shattering participle, present
- shattered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does shatter mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
Of brittle solid materials (like glass or ice), to violently break into pieces.
The miners used dynamite to shatter rocks.
- 2
To destroy, disable.
- 3
To dispirit or emotionally defeat.
to be shattered in intellect
- 4
Of seeds: to disperse (become dispersed) upon ripening.
- 5
obsoleteTo scatter about.
- 6
To fall sometimes connoting hard, as if to smash something, other times light and dispersed.
noun
- 1
archaicA fragment of anything shattered.
to break a glass into shatters
- 2
A (pine) needle.
- 3
A scattering, a smattering; a quantity of something scattered, like a sprinkling of seeds or a shower of rain.
- 4
slangA form of concentrated cannabis.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Shatter in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fracasser, réduire en miettes, mettre en pièces, briser , éclater, voler en éclats |
| German | zum Zerspringen bringen, zerschmettern, zersplittern , zerspringen , Splitter, Stückchen |
| Portuguese | estilhaçar , estilhaço, caco |
| Spanish | astillar, reventar, quebrantar, hacer añicos, cachar, esclafar |
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 shatter come from?
From Middle English schateren (“to scatter, dash”), an assibilated form of Middle English scateren ("to scatter"; see scatter), from Old English scaterian, from Proto-Germanic *skat- (“to smash, scatter”), perhaps ultimately imitative.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).