shattered dreams
Aspirations that crumbled
Shattered dreams are hopes or aspirations that have been completely destroyed, usually by circumstances beyond one's control.
The image is of something precious and fragile—like glass—broken beyond repair.
The phrase appears often in songs, headlines, and melodramatic speech: He returned home to shattered dreams and an empty house.
Unlike mere disappointment, shattered dreams suggests devastation that's difficult to recover from.
- brokenDamaged beyond function
- crushedCompressed into fragments
- hopesPositive expectations held
- disappointmentSadness from unmet expectations
- failureLack of success
broken promises · dashed hopes · bitter pill · heartbreak · shards · fragments · lost · lost cause · ruined · abandoned · empty nest · aspirations · glass · crumbling · despair · regret · fallen · fallen star
- dream phrasesdaydream, nightmare
- disillusionmentdisillusionment, disenchantment, disillusion, lost innocence, lost faith
- heartbreakheartache, broken heart, heartbreak, dumping, lost love
- poetic phrasesonce upon a time, happily ever after, star-crossed lovers, sweet sorrow, eternal flame
shattered dreamsdreams come true
Desired outcomes materialize
living the dream · success story · made it · happily ever after · fairy tale ending
shattered dreamshope
Desire for good outcomes
elation · jubilation · bliss · fulfillment · triumph
shatter, shatters, shattered, shattering, dream, dreams, dreamed, dreamt, dreaming