brittle
[brit-l]
- having hardness and rigidity but little tensile strength; breaking readily with a comparatively smooth fracture, as glass.
- easily damaged or destroyed; fragile; frail: a brittle marriage.
- lacking warmth, sensitivity, or compassion; aloof; self-centered: a self-possessed, cool, and rather brittle person.
- having a sharp, tense quality: a brittle tone of voice.
- unstable or impermanent; evanescent.
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- a confection of melted sugar, usually with nuts, brittle when cooled: peanut brittle.
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- to be or become brittle; crumble.
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Origin of brittle
1350–1400; Middle English britel, equivalent to brit- (akin to Old English brysten fragment) + -el adj. suffix
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
breakable, crisp, frail, short, stiff, crumbling, crumbly, delicate, friable, inelastic, vitreous, weak, frangible, shivery, curt, edgy, irritable, nervous, prim, stiltedExamples from the Web for brittle
Contemporary Examples
Instead of being strong and resilient, bones become weak and brittle.
Brittle egos are bolstered less by what they love about themselves than what they find contemptible in others.
Her many style tics—stacked one atop the other—read as code for narcissism, self-indulgence, and brittle self-absorption.
“Petulant,” “brittle” and “very very mean” are all words Isaacson used to describe Jobs at times.
Cook at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes or broil quickly until the brittle has melted to give a smooth covering.
Historical Examples
If the one be porcelain, and the other earthen ware, both are brittle!
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. IIFrancis Augustus Cox
It was yellow and brittle with age, covered with writing in a fine clear hand.
The Inn at the Red OakLatta Griswold
This is an extremely beautiful plant, very tender or brittle.
The Mushroom, Edible and OtherwiseM. E. Hard
Notice the smooth grainless texture—hard and yet not brittle.
The Long VoyageCarl Richard Jacobi
Such plates may be so badly damaged that they are brittle and crumbled.
The Automobile Storage BatteryO. A. Witte
brittle
- easily cracked, snapped, or broken; fragile
- curt or irritablea brittle reply
- hard or sharp in quality
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- a crunchy sweet made with treacle and nutspeanut brittle
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Word Origin
C14: from Old English brytel (unattested); related to brytsen fragment, brēotan to break
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for brittle
adj.
late 14c., britel, perhaps from an unrecorded Old English adjective *brytel, related to brytan "to crush, pound, to break to pieces," from Proto-Germanic stem *brutila- "brittle," from *breutan "to break up" (cf. Old Norse brjota "to break," Old High German brodi "fragile"), and related to bruise (v.). With -le, suffix forming adjectives with meaning "liable to."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
brittle
[brĭt′l]
- Having a tendency to break when subject to high stress. Brittle materials have undergone very little strain when they reach their elastic limit, and tend to break at that limit. Compare ductile.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.