Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to divide us further

to divide us further

6.5
Cause people to disagree and feel less united
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : dividirnos más
  • Your actions could divide us further if we don't work together on this issue.

Examples

  • Do you think it will unite humanity, divide us further into havens and haves and have nots please?

  • The recent events are likely to divide us further rather than bring us closer together.

  • If we focus on our differences, it will only divide us further in our quest for peace.

Synonyms

to separate
vsto divide us further
297 1.9

To break into parts or pieces

causes more active hostility and worsening relationships rather than neutral parting
to isolate
vsto divide us further
256 4.2

To keep someone or something apart from others

creates increased social hostility and group fragmentation instead of mere solitude
to segregate
vsto divide us further
  • Offensive
67 6.8

To keep people apart and treat them differently because of race, religion, or gender

increases hostility and conflict between groups rather than only changing arrangements
to split up
vsto divide us further
47 2.6

To divide something into smaller parts

increases conflict and alienation among people rather than only altering group structure
to balkanize
vsto divide us further
2 9.9

Divide a country or group into smaller, often hostile, parts

does similar harm but focuses on increasing conflict within a single group
to disunite
vsto divide us further
1 7.0

To cause people or groups to separate

increases conflict and deepens breaks between people
to dichotomize
vsto divide us further
  • US
1 9.3

To separate things into two opposite groups, ignoring the middle

makes social tension by creating opposing camps instead of gradual difference

Antonyms

to unite
∞ 2.1

To join people or things into one group for a shared purpose

How Divided

split
9 4.2
to divide us further
6.5

Surface Forms

divide us further infinitive
divided us further past
divided us further past participle
dividing us further present participle
divides us further third person singular

Morphology

divide + us + further

The meaning is directly and predictably built from the constituents: 'divide' (to separate), 'us' (the speaker and others), and 'further' (more or to a greater extent). This literal compositional pattern (to make the group more separated) is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the words will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Divide us further paints a simple picture: imagine people standing together and someone drawing a line that slowly divides us, pushing the group apart. So it means 'to make a group more divided' or 'to increase separation or conflict'.