na-adjective, noun
pieces; scraps; fragments
Describes something broken or cut into small, irregular pieces. Often used with に to mean 'in pieces' or 'in fragments'.
紙が切れ切れになった。
The paper was torn into pieces.
切れ切れの布を集めて縫い合わせた。
I gathered scraps of cloth and sewed them together.
na-adjective, noun
disconnected; intermittent; fragmentary
Used for speech, memories, or signals that are broken or not continuous. Often appears as 切れ切れに (in a disconnected manner).
彼の話は切れ切れでよくわからなかった。
His story was so fragmentary that I couldn't understand it well.
ラジオから切れ切れの音楽が聞こえた。
Intermittent music came from the radio.
ばらばら emphasizes a scattered, disordered state of separate pieces, while 切れ切れ focuses on the broken or torn nature of the pieces themselves.
断片的 is more formal and often used for abstract things like information or memories, whereas 切れ切れ can describe both physical pieces and abstract discontinuity.
Reduplication of 切れ (きれ, 'piece, cut'), from the verb 切る (きる, 'to cut'). The repetition emphasizes a state of being in many small pieces or disconnected fragments.