brittle
English · Thesaurus
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brittle¹
- /ˈbɹɪtəl/
- [ˈbɹʷɪtʰəl] ~ [ˈbɹʷɪtʰl̩]
- [ˈbɹʷɪɾəl] ~ [ˈbɹʷɪɾl̩]
Rhymes with -ɪtəl
Where it comes from
From Middle English britel, brutel, brotel (“brittle”), from Old English *brytel, *bryttol (“brittle, fragile”, literally “prone to or tending to break”); equivalent to brit + -le.
adjective brittler · more brittle · brittlest · most brittle
- Inflexible; liable to break, snap, or shatter easily under stress, pressure, or impact. Near-synonyms: crackly, (technical) brash
- 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.
- Emotionally fragile, easily offended. What a brittle person! A little misunderstanding and he's an emotional wreck.
- Poorly error- or fault-tolerant; having little in the way of redundancy or defense in depth; susceptible to catastrophic failure in the event of a relatively-minor malfunction or deviance.
- Characterized by dramatic swings in blood sugar level.
noun brittles
-
A confection of caramelized sugar and nuts.
As a child, my favorite candy was peanut brittle.
Similar: brickle
- Anything resembling this confection, such as flapjack, a cereal bar, etc.
verb brittles · brittling · brittled
-
To become brittle.
The project is based on a similar project, the Class project, which was started by the University of Cornell several years ago under the leadership of Stuart Lynn to preserve brittling old books.
Similar: embrittle
- To gut. Not being versed in the terms of English venery, he asked Abbot Ulfketyl what brittling of a deer might mean; and being informed that it was that operation on the carcass of a stag which his countrymen called eventrer, and Highland gillies now “gralloching”[.]
Brittle²
Where it comes from
From a diminutive form of Brett.
proper noun Brittles
- A surname.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: brickly, breakable, coldhearted, untempered, unhardened, unannealed, toffy, toffee, brickle, friable, fragile, tenuous, flimsy, frail, shaky, vulnerable
Translations
Every language
adj able to break or snap easily under stress or pressure
| Español | frágil, quebradizo, friable, vidrioso |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 易碎的, 易损坏的 |
| Português | frágil, quebradiço |
| Français | fragile |
| Deutsch | spröde, brüchig, bröckelig, mürbe, morsch, fragil |
| Italiano | fragile |
| Русский | хру́пкий xrúpkij, ло́мкий lómkij |
| Tiếng Việt | giòn |
adj apt to break or crumble when bending
| Español | frágil |
|---|---|
| Français | cassant |
| Deutsch | spröde, krümelig, bröselig, brüchig, bröckelig, mürbe |
| Русский | хру́пкий xrúpkij |
adj emotionally fragile, easily offended
| Português | frágil |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | reizbar, kühl, fragil, instabil |
| Русский | чувстви́тельный čuvstvítelʹnyj, уязви́мый ujazvímyj, беззащи́тный bezzaščítnyj, оби́дчивый obídčivyj |
Talk about this word "brittle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/brittle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. brittle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/brittle "brittle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/brittle.Cite this
@misc{brittle_2026,
title = {brittle},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/brittle},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
