To shatter means to break suddenly and violently into many small pieces. When something shatters, it doesn't just crack or split: it explodes into fragments. A glass dropped on a tile floor shatters, sending sharp pieces scattering across the room. A baseball through a window causes the glass to shatter on impact.

Unlike a clean break that creates two or three large pieces, shattering creates dozens or hundreds of fragments. Ice on a frozen pond might shatter under pressure. A ceramic plate might shatter when it hits concrete.

We also use shatter to describe destroying something intangible. Bad news can shatter someone's hopes or dreams. A shocking discovery might shatter your assumptions about something you thought you understood. When a track athlete shatters a world record, they don't just break it: they demolish it completely, leaving the old record in pieces.

The word shattered can describe feeling emotionally exhausted or devastated. After a long, difficult day, someone might say they feel absolutely shattered. The connection makes sense: just as shattered glass loses its structure completely, a shattered person can feel like they've fallen apart.