You can get injured from a shard of stained glass.
Source: tatoeba (2760151)
Shard
/ʃaːd/
Synonyms for "shard" (143 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (29)
Strong matches (43)
Related words (71)
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: fragment, a bit, abrade, atomize, beat.
- Sentence evidence is available for shard, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from wordnet, opengloss, derived_reverse, moby, and related lexical sources.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "shard".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "shard"
Keep "shard" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "shard" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "shard", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "shard" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
7 entriesMore specific
12 entriesCollocations
12 entriesbone sharddatabase shardglass shardpottery shardshard across serversshard by regionshard datashard databaseshard into piecesshard keysharding strategyshards of pottery
Inflections
3 entriesDerivations
3 entriesTranslations
55 translations across 36 languages.
Afrikaans
1 entries- skerf noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Ancient Greek
1 entries- ὄστρακον noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Arabic
1 entries- كِسْرَة noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Bulgarian
1 entries- чиреп noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Catalan
1 entries- padellàs noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Czech
1 entries- střep noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Danish
1 entries- skår noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Dutch
1 entries- scherf noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Finnish
3 entries- pirstale noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- sirpale noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- siru noun (piece of glass or pottery)
French
2 entries- tesson noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- éclat noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Galician
2 entries- cacheno noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- lasca noun (piece of glass or pottery)
German
1 entries- Scherbe noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Hebrew
1 entries- רְסִיס noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Hungarian
2 entries- cserépdarab noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- szilánk noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Ingrian
1 entries- luhka noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Italian
2 entries- coccio noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- frammento noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Kapampangan
2 entries- catapa noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- katapa noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Latin
1 entries- testa noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Lower Sorbian
1 entries- crjop noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Macedonian
3 entries- откршок noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- срча noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- цреп noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Māori
3 entries- kuru noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- pāra noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- rutunga noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- skår noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Norwegian Nynorsk
1 entries- skar noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Persian
2 entries- سفاله noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- شکاله noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Polish
2 entries- odłamek noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- skorupa noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Portuguese
2 entries- caco noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- estilhaço noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Romanian
1 entries- ciob noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Russian
2 entries- оско́лок noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- черепо́к noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Serbo-Croatian
1 entries- krhotina noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Slovak
1 entries- črep noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Spanish
4 entries- añicos noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- casco noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- esquirla noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- tiesto noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Swedish
1 entries- skärva noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Tagalog
1 entries- bubog noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Tocharian B
1 entries- ṣat noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Ukrainian
1 entries- оско́лок noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Walloon
2 entries- testea noun (piece of glass or pottery)
- xhervea noun (piece of glass or pottery)
Sample sentences
13 total sentences available.
She cut her finger on a shard of glass.
Source: tatoeba (7829165)
I stepped on a glass shard on the beach.
Source: tatoeba (7888654)
Fire crews said forests and fields, baked to tinder by the intense heat, were easily ignited by such things as a discarded cigarette or concentration of the sun's rays by a shard of glass.
Source: tatoeba (10238519)
Showing 4 of 13 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "shard"?
Closest matches include fragment, a bit, abrade, atomize, beat.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "shard"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.