crisp
Americanadjective
-
crisper,
comparative
-
crispest
superlative
-
(especially of food) hard but easily breakable; brittle.
crisp toast.
-
(especially of food) firm and fresh; not soft or wilted.
a crisp leaf of lettuce.
-
a crisp reply.
-
crisp repartee.
-
clean-cut, neat, and well-pressed; well-groomed.
-
invigorating; bracing.
crisp air.
-
crinkled, wrinkled, or rippled, as skin or water.
-
in small, stiff, or firm curls; curly.
verb (used with or without object)
-
crisps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
crisped,
past participle, past
-
crisping
present participle
-
to make or become crisp.
-
to curl.
noun
-
Chiefly British. potato chip.
-
Cooking. a dessert of fruit, as apples or apricots, baked with a crunchy mixture, usually of breadcrumbs, chopped nutmeats, butter, and brown sugar.
adjective
-
dry and brittle
-
fresh and firm
crisp lettuce
-
invigorating or bracing
a crisp breeze
-
clear; sharp
crisp reasoning
-
lively or stimulating
crisp conversation
-
clean and orderly; neat
a crisp appearance
-
concise and pithy; terse
a crisp reply
-
wrinkled or curly
crisp hair
verb
noun
-
a very thin slice of potato fried and eaten cold as a snack
-
something that is crisp
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
crispsimple
-
crispssimple
-
have crispedperfect
-
has crispedperfect
-
am crispingprogressive
-
are crispingprogressive
-
is crispingprogressive
-
have been crispingperfect progressive
-
has been crispingperfect progressive
Past
-
crispedsimple
-
had crispedperfect
-
was crispingprogressive
-
were crispingprogressive
-
had been crispingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of crisp
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English, from Latin crispus “curled”
Explanation
Something that's crisp is thin, dry, and breakable. Unless they're stale, most crackers are crisp. Gingersnaps are crisp, and so is toast — in fact, crisp often describes food, although crunchy snow and dry, brown leaves are also crisp. To crisp something is to cook or dry it until it's brittle, and when a voice is crisp, it's abrupt and no-nonsense. A crisp fall morning is fresh and cold. In Old English, crisp meant "curly," from the Latin crispus, "curled." The "brittle" definition is probably imitative, the word sounding like its meaning.
Vocabulary lists containing crisp
Wintry Words
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Chill Out! Synonyms for "Cold"
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"Stone Fox" by John Reynolds Gardiner
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
One crisp morning in Omsk, in November 2023, Tatiana arrived early at work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Emily St. John Mandel touched down in Los Angeles just hours before she arrived at Botanica in Silver Lake, shirt crisp, eyes bright, not a hint of jet lag in sight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
Dobbertin, who spent years in Thailand, created her own crunchwrap featuring a tortilla wrapped around marinated chicken in a khao soi coconut curry with avocado basil ranch and crisp wheat noodles for added crunch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
"People expect things to look perfect and crisp," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
But today I stood in the corner for the first time in six weeks, staring at our used-to-be plants—brown and crisp and dead all over.
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
Sucking out excess humidity makes the air feel crisper and cooler without toggling the thermostat.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026
They got tighter and crisper, as reflected in the reactions at their frenzied live shows, where fans flying through the crowd and the hurricane swirl of their mosh pits are commonplace.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
She’s wearing oversize sunglasses, a crisp collared shirt, an even crisper pleated navy skirt and leopard-print pumps.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
The good news is that there will be lulls between the successive weather systems, with sparkling sunshine and crisper conditions.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026
She was different; her skin and clothes were crisper.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Sitting by the Rhine one evening with friends, I sipped a glass of white purchased from a food truck that was one of the lightest, crispest wines I've ever consumed.
From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2023
It's traditionally served on or with tostadas, and it is best enjoyed on hot afternoons and at hungover lunches, preferably paired with the largest, crispest lager you can find.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2018
But they have played their crispest ball against the handful of good teams they have faced: 7-3 against the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Rockies who have the NL’s best records.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 25, 2017
“The number of other women in the unit is one way to get at social isolation, but it’s not the crispest measure,” Dr. Street said.
From New York Times ● May 24, 2015
White men in the crispest, slickest suits—black and navy and tweed, some with loosened ties and coats unbuttoned or cast aside over chairs.
From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz
So Megan's kitchen is still full of fruit, vegetables, seeds and oats but there are now also breakfast cereals, crisps, biscuits and other processed foods too.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
The marauding monkeys brazenly snatch ice cream, cakes and crisps from unwitting tourists in addition to gobbling abandoned leftovers from bins or food directly offered to them.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
It will launch "fan of the match" promotions for its Lays crisps brand during the tournament.
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2026
All the kids would play out in the street every day, you could walk into any neighbor’s house and they would feed you or you could get a packet of crisps.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026
Then she grabbed the packet of crisps I’d been eating and scoffed the lot.
From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd
Each berry came out as a single large, flat flake that crisped when baked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026
They crisped and darkened, developing a savory depth that stood in happily for pork.
From Salon ● Dec. 28, 2025
Leftover pizza gets cut up, crisped on the stove and mixed into scrambled eggs—a remnant from Duggal’s college days that she has christened “pizza eggs.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
It takes some time, actually, to get the chicken crisped up just right, but the whole process is so simple and calls for almost no ingredients.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2024
He pointed to a sign, crisped and faded from the weather.
From "Between Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys
Once the cooking area is cleared, Brown pours olive oil into a pan and shows Prado her trick for crisping tortillas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2024
The cake's surface will look different if it is soaked in syrup, making it moist and sticky, or if it is put in the oven, crisping and darkening the surface.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 7, 2023
While the squash gets a head start in the oven, you can dry out the chickpeas to encourage crisping.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 5, 2022
Slightly warming the peanut butter and jam and crisping up the bread elevates your sandwich from a lunchbox staple to something truly special.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2022
He’d already plunged into the yellowing, crisping plants, dying plants, he’d already stumbled forward several dozen yards, when he began to feel stupid again, wrong again, worried again.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
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