smithereens

Uncertain; the following possibilities have been suggested, though the etymons are all first attested later than the English word:[1]

• From Irish smidiríní, smiodairíní (“smithereens”), from smiodar (“broken piece, fragment”) + -ín (suffix forming diminutive nouns) + -í (slender form of -aí (suffix forming plurals of some nouns)).
• From smithers (“fragment; atom”) infixed with -een (suffix forming diminutive nouns in Hiberno-English).
• From Hiberno-English (Wexford) smaddereen, a variant of smattering (“small amount or number of something; shallow or superficial knowledge of a subject”).
• From Hiberno-English (Wexford) smithered, smashed

• (Received Pronunciation, Ireland) IPA^(key): /smɪðəˈɹiːnz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌsmɪðəˈɹinz/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːnz
• Hyphenation: smi‧ther‧eens

smithereens pl (plural only) (rare singular smithereen)

1. (originally Ireland, informal) Fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items.

   Synonyms: shards, shivereens, smithers

   The urn shattered into smithereens the moment it hit the ground.

   • 2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 42:

     However, something once happened on the railway there which showed the very best of mankind: heroism, duty, self-sacrifice and calm professionalism under terrible pressure. It is a story which gives us far, far better reasons for remembering this attractive little town, which without these heroes would have been blown to smithereens in a gigantic explosion. (Two railwaymen lost their lives in 1944 when a wagon in an ammunition train caught fire and blew up, an even worse disaster was averted however.)

• smithereens (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• intermeshes