fragmentary

/ˈfræɡ.mən.tɛr.i/

incomplete or consisting of separate parts

The evidence was fragmentary, making it hard to reconstruct the full story.

The evidence was incomplete and consisted of separate pieces, making it difficult to understand the whole story.

general

consisting of or made up of separate pieces or parts

The museum's collection includes fragmentary artifacts from ancient civilizations.

The museum has incomplete or partial artifacts from ancient civilizations.

Often used to describe information, evidence, or objects that are incomplete or broken into parts.

general

incomplete or lacking coherence

His fragmentary notes made it difficult to follow his train of thought.

His incomplete and disjointed notes were hard to understand.

Can describe thoughts, memories, or ideas that are not fully formed or connected.

Collocations

fragmentary evidenceincomplete or partial evidencefragmentary notesincomplete or disjointed notesfragmentary memoriesincomplete or partial memories

Use 'fragmentary' to describe something that is incomplete or consists of separate parts, whether physical or abstract.

From Latin 'fragmentum' (a broken piece) + '-ary' (suffix denoting belonging to or having the nature of).

Often used in contexts where something is incomplete, broken, or lacks coherence. Can describe physical objects, information, or abstract concepts.

frag-

break

root

-ment

result of an action

suffix

-ary

relating to or having the nature of

suffix

English Dictionary