brokenverb
uk/ˈbrəʊ.kən/us/ˈbroʊ.kən/past participle of break
brokenadjective
uk/ˈbrəʊ.kən/us/ˈbroʊ.kən/broken adjective (DAMAGED)
A2 damaged, no longer able to work:
He attacked the man with a broken bottle.
My watch is broken.
Careful - there's broken glass on the floor.
[ before noun ] suffering emotional pain that is so strong that it changes the way you live, usually as a result of an unpleasant event:
He was a broken man after his wife died.
More examples
- Never try to mend a broken machine without disconnecting it from the electricity supply.
- He put a sheet of plastic over the broken window.
- The shower is broken - you'll have to have a bath.
- She had an X-ray to see if any of her ribs were broken.
- Be careful - there's broken glass on the kitchen floor.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Machines - not functioning
- burn
- cut
- deactivate
- dead
- defunct
- disable
- fritz
- give up the ghost idiom
- go down
- haywire
- on the blink idiom
- out of commission idiom
- seize
- shudder
- shut
- shut (sth) off
- stop
- unusable
- whack
- wrong
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
In bad condition
Feeling sad and unhappy
broken adjective (INTERRUPTED)
C1 interrupted or not continuous:
He tried to explain what had happened in broken English (= not spoken easily and stopping a lot) .
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Inconvenience
- a pain (in the neck) idiom
- a pain in the arse/backside idiom
- aggravation
- aggro
- awkward
- bore
- disturbance
- drag
- fag
- fuss
- hassle
- have fun and games idiom
- imposition
- inconvenience
- pisser
- put sb out
- put yourself out
- rigmarole
- snag
- tempest
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broken adjective (ENDED)
C2 destroyed or ended:
a broken engagement
She comes from a broken home (= one where the parents have separated).
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Relationships: ending & divorce
- a parting of the ways idiom
- affiliation order
- annul
- break up
- break-up
- child support
- chuck
- give sb the elbow idiom
- give sb the heave-ho idiom
- give sb the push idiom
- go off with sb
- grow apart
- push
- split
- split up
- split up
- throw
- throw sb over
- tug of love
- visitation
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broken adjective (NOT KEPT)
(of a law, rule, or promise) not obeyed or not kept:
a broken promise
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Making & breaking promises & commitments
- betray
- commit
- cross my heart (and hope to die) idiom
- deliver
- fink
- fink out
- go back on sth
- guarantee
- New Year's resolution
- promise
- promise sb the earth/moon idiom
- promises, promises! idiom
- redeem
- resolution
- swear
- sworn
- vouch
- warrant
- warranty
- welsh
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