smithereens

/ˈsmɪðəˌrinz/

The noun smithereens is good for describing the tiny pieces of something, especially when it's been smashed into small bits.

You're most likely to come across the word smithereens when someone's describing an explosion: "It was such an exciting movie — the spies kept blowing cars to smithereens!" You could also say that a neighborhood vandal smashed both your mailbox and your jack-'o-lantern to smithereens. The origin of the word is thought to be the Irish smidirín, or "fragment."

Definitions of smithereens

1. noun

   a collection of small fragments considered as a whole
   “Berlin was bombed to smithereens”

   “his hopes were dashed to smithereens”

   “I wanted to smash him to smithereens”

   “the toilet bowl was blown to smithereens”

   type of:

   accumulation, aggregation, assemblage, collection

   several things grouped together or considered as a whole