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Shatter vs Severe - What's the difference?

shatter | severe |

As a verb shatter

is to violently break something into pieces.

As a noun shatter

is (archaic) a fragment of anything shattered.

As an adjective severe is

severe, harsh.

shatter

English

(wikipedia shatter)

Verb

(en verb)
  • to violently break something into pieces.
    • The miners used dynamite to shatter rocks.
    a high-pitched voice that could shatter glass
    The old oak tree has been shattered by lightning.
  • to destroy or disable something.
  • to smash, or break into tiny pieces.
  • to dispirit or emotionally defeat
    • to be shattered''' in intellect; to have '''shattered''' hopes, or a '''shattered constitution
  • * 1984 Martyn Burke, The commissar's report, p36
    • Your death will shatter him. Which is what I want. Actually, I would prefer to kill him.
  • * 1992 Rose Gradym "Elvis Cures Teen's Brain Cancer!" Weekly World News , Vol. 13, No. 38 (23 June, 1992), p41
    • A CAT scan revealed she had an inoperable brain tumor. The news shattered Michele's mother.
  • * 2006 A. W. Maldonado, Luis Muñoz Marín: Puerto Rico's democratic revolution, p163
    • The marriage, of course, was long broken but Munoz knew that asking her for a divorce would shatter her.
  • * Norris
    • a man of a loose, volatile, and shattered humour
  • (obsolete) To scatter about.
  • * Milton
    • Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (archaic) A fragment of anything shattered.
    • to break a glass into shatters
    (Jonathan Swift)

    Anagrams

    * * English ergative verbs

    severe

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Very bad or intense.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-01
    • , author=Donald Worster , title=A Drier and Hotter Future , volume=100, issue=1, page=70 , magazine= citation , passage=Phoenix and Lubbock are both caught in severe drought, and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force.}}
  • Strict or harsh.
  • Sober, plain in appearance, austere.

    • Synonyms

    * brutal * extreme * hard * harsh * intense * rigorous * serious

    Antonyms

    * (very bad or intense) mild * (very bad or intense) minor * (strict or harsh) lenient

    Derived terms

    * severely (adverb) * severity (noun) * severeness (noun)

    External links

    * * *

    Anagrams

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