rifted
Broken by fissures
Rifted describes something that has been split, cracked, or broken apart.
The word appears most often in geological contexts—rifted continents, rifted valleys—where landmasses have separated along fault lines.
More figuratively, rifted can describe relationships or groups that have fractured: a rifted alliance, rifted communities.
The past tense of the verb rift, though that verb is rarely used.
Violently split apart
- cleavedSplit forcefully apart
- splitSeparation into parts
- fracturedSplit or splintered
- separatedPut or kept apart
severed · partitioned · bisected · broken apart · disjoined · fragmented · segmented · halved
Torn or very muscular
- shreddedTorn into strips
- laceratedTorn with irregular edges
- tatteredRipped and worn out
- frayedUnraveled at edges
gashed · slashed · jagged · ragged · rent · cleaved · split · severed
Held accountable for error
- fracturedSplit or splintered
- tectonicsStudy of crustal deformation
- divergenceSeparation from common origin
- plate boundaryWhere Earth's sections meet
mid-ocean ridge · volcanism · basalt · subduction zone · fissured · graben · horst · extensional
sundered
Violently split apart
separated · severed · partitioned · bisected · broken apart · disjoined · fragmented · segmented · halved · dissected
ripped
Torn or very muscular
frayed · gashed · slashed · jagged · ragged · rent · cleaved · split · severed · punctured
faulted
Held accountable for error
- fracturedSplit or splintered
- tectonicsStudy of crustal deformation
- divergenceSeparation from common origin
plate boundary · mid-ocean ridge · volcanism · basalt · subduction zone · fissured · graben · horst · extensional · spreading
alienated
Made distant or hostile
- disaffectedResentful toward former allegiance
- disconnectedSeparated from a source
- isolatedSeparated from others
rejected · abandoned · detached · divorced · excluded · hostile · distant · coldness · breach · falling-out
- dimensional riftOpening between parallel realms
- rift valleysFault-bounded crustal depressions
- Great Rift ValleyTectonic depression spanning continents
- East African RiftContinental divergence zone
- Albertine RiftWestern arm, African rift system
- spatial riftBreach in spacetime