| a small organization that becomes separated from or acts apart from an original larger group or a number of other small groups, with which it would normally be united, as because of disagreement. |
| splinter group n. A group, such as a religious sect or political faction, that has broken away from a parent group. |
splinter group
A part of an organization that breaks away from the main body, usually owing to disagreement. For example, Perot's supporters at first constituted a splinter group but soon formed a third political party. This idiom alludes to the noun splinter, a fragment of wood or some other material that is split or broken off. [Mid-1900s]