sentence fragment

noun

1. a phrase or clause written as a sentence but lacking an element, as a subject or verb, that would enable it to function as an independent sentence in normative written English.

Grammar Note

See sentence.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sentence fragment¹

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

And there was a sentence fragment he’d crossed out, following the word spirit: “Of the divine.”

From New York Times

To me as a scholar of constitutional law, each sentence and sentence fragment captures the commitment made by the nation in the wake of the Civil War to govern by constitutional politics.

From Salon

For example, starting with the sentence fragment "an AI system can…," ChatGPT will predict that the next word should be "learn," "predict" or "understand."

From Salon

Gordon’s prose is relatively staccato, with lots of sentence fragments and short paragraphs, and the action moves rapidly, covering the events of just a few days.

From Washington Post

Time and again, he offered workers hungry for concrete answers a jumble of sentence fragments.

From The Verge