sundering
Breaking into pieces
Sundering is the act of splitting apart or severing, often violently or completely.
The word carries a sense of forceful separation—things that are sundered don't just come apart, they're torn asunder: the sundering of old alliances, a civil war sundering the nation.
The term appears more in literary or dramatic contexts than everyday speech.
Cutting apart completely
- cleavingDividing by cutting
- splittingDividing into parts
- rendingTearing apart forcefully
- partitioningDividing into sections
separating · dividing · tearing · fracturing · rupturing · breaking · disconnecting · detaching
Causing emotional separation
- estrangingCausing emotional separation
- disunitingCausing separation or fragmentation
- isolatingSetting apart from contact
- dissociatingMentally separating from awareness
disassociating · disbanding · disengaging · distancing · dividing · parting · fragmenting · scattering
severing
Cutting apart completely
partitioning · separating · dividing · tearing · fracturing · rupturing · breaking · disconnecting · detaching · disjoining
alienating
Causing emotional separation
- estrangingCausing emotional separation
- disunitingCausing separation or fragmentation
- isolatingSetting apart from contact
dissociating · disassociating · disbanding · disengaging · distancing · dividing · parting · fragmenting · scattering · dispersing