brittle
Inflexible; liable to break, snap, or shatter easily under stress, pressure, or impact.
Other meanings
Not physically tough or tenacious; apt to break or crumble when bending.
“Shortbread is my favorite cold pastry, yet being so brittle it crumbles easily, and a lot goes to waste.”
Tending to fracture in a conchoidal way; capable of being knapped or flaked.
Related words
- brittility
- brittly
- embrittle
- nonbrittle
- unbrittle
- brittle bone disease
- brittlebush
- brittlegill
- brittle hair syndrome
- brittlely
- brittleness
- work-brittle
Word history
From Middle English "britel".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “brittle” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.