friable

American  

[frahy-uh-buhl] / ˈfraɪ ə bəl /

adjective

1. easily crumbled or reduced to powder; crumbly.

   friable rock.

   Synonyms:

   frangible, fragile

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friable British  

/ ˈfraɪəbəl /

adjective

1. easily broken up; crumbly

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Other Word Forms

• friability noun
• friableness noun
• unfriable adjective
• unfriableness noun

Etymology

Origin of friable

First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin friābilis, equivalent to friā(re) “to rub, crumble” + -ābilis -able

Example Sentences

Britain is a “defiant but friable little nation floating off the edge of a continent” that itself is “an appendix of Asia.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The Army Corps, he wrote, “estimates that 50% of the sites on the property contain friable asbestos.”

From Los Angeles Times

But one piece of the more concerning friable asbestos - which can be easily crushed into a powder - was found at a public park in suburb Surry Hills.

From BBC

It is only when the image flips, when reality goes into reverse, that we sense how delicate and friable — and how compulsively romantic — are our constructions of reality.

From Washington Post

In 1936, the name "Ehlers-Danlos syndrome" was proposed and three cardinal symptoms were identified: joints had to be overly bendy, and skin had to be both stretchy and unusually "friable", meaning it crumbled easily.

From BBC