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)
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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
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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:
The toppings are market-flexible, too: Use whatever chèvre or goat cheese you find, whether it crumbles into little pillows or lands in soft clouds, and turn a leftover hunk of cornbread into crisp, salty crumbs.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
She says shorts are "the trickiest item to get right in a professional environment" and recommends tailored, longer shorts paired with a crisp shirt or lightweight blazer for both men and women.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
By the time Houston rap legend Scarface — who’s known for his use of heavy bass — hit the stage I realized just how crisp the sound quality was.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
French fries and other fried foods are popular largely because of their crisp texture and rich flavor.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
We went on that way, with her crisp footsteps tip-tapping down the wooden sidewalk and my boots shuffling along after her, until we reached another intersection.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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
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
Who’s washing it, chopping it, remembering it exists in the crisper drawer before it liquefies?
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2026
Dr. Finch’s “Hah!” was crisper than usual, a sure sign that his temper was going.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
He was crispest and most adventurous on his EWI — electronic wind instrument — on which he delivered the most convincing, sturdiest melodies with hints of sci-fi spookiness.
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2024
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
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
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
Food such as chocolate bars, crisps and ice cream have negative digestive effects for the macaques but are "as delicious for them" as they are for humans, according to a Cambridge University study.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 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
Sauté them together until the pancetta renders and lightly crisps, the onions turning translucent and sweet at the edges.
From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2026
Emma is buckled in the back seat watching a movie on the DVD player in her lap, eating crisps and pounding a Mountain Dew slushie.
From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson
Each berry came out as a single large, flat flake that crisped when baked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026
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
In addition to its customarily flavoring soups, batters and stews, along with anything cooked in liquids — braises, beans, grains — it can also be roasted or crisped, ground and used as a condiment.
From Salon ● May 14, 2024
He could see the perfectly crisped fried chicken leg lying on his plate beside his half-eaten potatoes.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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
You’ll start by crisping the skin of 2 or 3 salmon fillets.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 14, 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
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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
