Skip to main content
broken

broken

10 2.4
Not kept or not done as promised
  • adjective
  • /ˈbroʊkən/
translation icon : incumplido
  • The court ruled that the broken contract had caused significant financial losses.
  • broken promises

Like we share a bond in between that if broken, it actually hurts.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Like we share a bond in between that if broken, it actually hurts.

  • But that promise seriously has been broken in the in the past years.

  • Broken appointments are charged double.

  • And so it shows up in broken promises or, or burnout, right?

  • Broken families.

  • Broken marriage.

  • Broken love affairs, bankruptcies, shameful deeds they want to forget.

  • Public Citizen, a prominent U.S.-based NGO and early critic of free trade, published a report provocatively titled NAFTA's Broken Promises.

    Academic text (2001)
  • They were heartbroken over the broken promises from their leaders.

  • He felt betrayed by the broken agreement they had both signed.

Synonyms

unfulfilled
vsbroken
4 4.4

Not completed, for example an order not yet sent to a customer

stresses violation or disregard rather than mere incompletion
unkept
vsbroken
1 6.9

Promises or agreements that someone does not follow

is the legal or neutral term for that violated state

Antonyms

honored
  • Formal
8 3.3

Respected and admired because of important achievements or a long history

unbroken
  • Formal
2 4.0

Kept as agreed over a period of time

3.4

Having completed a plan or goal to a high standard

Idioms

To keep saying the same complaint again and again until people get annoyed

Made into many small pieces so it cannot be fixed

Act carefully to avoid causing trouble in a tense, painful situation

Compounds

64 3.4

Deep sadness and pain you feel after losing or being rejected by someone you love

24 4.4

In very poor condition and not working because of age or neglect

15 3.0

A family where the parents do not live together and children often have problems

broken record
  • Offensive
14 4.9

A person who keeps saying the same thing until others get annoyed

8 5.2

An animal trained to let people ride or touch it

1 4.1

A loss of confidence in someone because they lie or break promises

A person who feels deeply hurt and cannot cope

broken arch
  • Specialized
8.1

An arch with a gap at the top often filled with decorations

8.4

A person who is very hurt inside and finds it hard to trust others

Broken Britain
  • Literature
7.5

A way to describe serious social and economic problems in the United Kingdom

broken vessel
  • Specialized
3.8

A tube that carries blood that has burst and caused bleeding

9.9

A long-lasting lung problem in a horse that makes breathing out hard

An animal or person with a badly damaged backbone that makes moving painful

broken-backed
  • Specialized
9.6

A ship or structure so badly damaged that it sags in the middle

broken-field
  • Jargon
7.4

Movement by a player using quick, sudden direction changes to avoid other players

How Fulfilled

fulfilled
3.4
broken
10 2.4

Surface Forms

broken positive

Morphology

broken = break (transparent) = break + en

The adjectival 'broken' meaning 'violated' is directly from 'break' (to break a promise) with the past-participle formation.

Etymology

Broken comes from the verb break, as in 'to break a promise', which means 'not to keep' what you said. So a broken promise is one that was not kept.