Definition of SMITHEREENS

smithereens

Meanings

Noun

  • a collection of small fragments considered as a whole
    • "Berlin was bombed to smithereens"
    • "his hopes were dashed to smithereens"
    • "I wanted to smash him to smithereens"
    • "the toilet bowl ws blown to smithereens"
  • Fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items.

Origin / Etymology

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

Scrabble Score: 16

smithereens is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
smithereens is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
smithereens is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 17

smithereens is a valid Words With Friends word