smithereens

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smithereens^¹

/smɪðəˈɹiːnz/ Ireland, UK
/ˌsmɪðəˈɹinz/ US

Rhymes with -iːnz

Where it comes from

Uncertain. The following words, all first attested later than the headword, have been compared:

* Irish smidiríní, smiodairíní (“smithereens”), from smiodar (“broken piece, fragment”) + -ín (suffix forming diminutive nouns) + -í (slender form of -aí (suffix forming plurals of some nouns)).

* smither (“fragment; atom”), which would be suffixed with -een (forming diminutive nouns in Irish English).

* Hiberno-English (Wexford) smaddereen, a variant of smattering (“small amount or number of something; shallow or superficial knowledge of a subject”).

* Hiberno-English (Wexford) smithered, smashed

noun smithereen

informal, plural, plural only Fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items. The urn shattered into smithereens the moment it hit the ground.
Similar: shards, shivereens, smithers

Smithereens^²

noun

plural plural of Smithereen

Translations

Every language

noun fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items

Español	añicos, pedazos, trozos, cacharros, trizas
한국어	산산조각 sansanjogak
日本語	欠片木っ端微塵 kakera
中文	碎片 suìpiàn, 齏粉 /齑粉 jīfěn
Português	pedacinhos
Français	miettes
Deutsch	Splitter, Stücke, Stückchen
Italiano	frantumi
Română	bucățele
Русский	черепки čerepki, осколки oskolki
עברית	רְסִיסִים r'sisím

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MLA

"smithereens." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/smithereens. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

smithereens. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/smithereens

Chicago

"smithereens." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/smithereens.

BibTeX

@misc{smithereens_2026,
  title = {smithereens},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/smithereens},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}