crisp

[krisp]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR crisp ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, crisp·er, crisp·est.

(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.

brisk; sharp; clear; decided: a crisp reply.

lively; pithy; sparkling: crisp repartee.

clean-cut, neat, and well-pressed; well-groomed.

bracing; invigorating: crisp air.

crinkled, wrinkled, or rippled, as skin or water.

in small, stiff, or firm curls; curly.

verb (used with or without object)

to make or become crisp.

to curl.

noun

Chiefly British. potato chip.

a dessert of fruit, as apples or apricots, baked with a crunchy mixture, usually of bread crumbs, chopped nutmeats, butter, and brown sugar.

Origin of crisp

before 900; Middle English, Old English < Latin crispus curled

Related formscrisp·ly, adverbcrisp·ness, noun

Synonyms for crisp

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR crisp ON THESAURUS.COM

6. brisk, fresh, nippy.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for crisp

crusty, fresh, crumbly, plump, crispy, brisk, refreshing, neat, firm, short, green, clear, bracing, stimulating, invigorating, penetrating, clear-cut, brief, cutting, provoking

Examples from the Web for crisp

Contemporary Examples of crisp

Exactly one month after the first straw goat was erected in Gävle, it was mysteriously burned to a crisp.
Sweden’s Burning Christmas Goat
Nina Strochlic
December 25, 2014
Note: If you prefer cookies thin and crisp, bake them straight from the mixing bowl.
Make These Barefoot Contessa Salty Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ina Garten
November 28, 2014
If you prefer them chewy in the middle and crisp outside, chill the balls of dough.
Make These Barefoot Contessa Salty Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ina Garten
November 28, 2014
De la Renta did design some stuff for Kennedy too—notably, one perfect belted sheath in crisp white linen.
How Oscar de la Renta Created First Lady Fashion
Raquel Laneri
October 21, 2014
The summer heat is fleeting, and the crisp golden brown of autumn lingers just a little bit longer than it should.
Jason Schwartzman Is the Nicest Jerk You’ll Ever Meet in ‘Listen Up Philip’
Emma Myers
October 17, 2014

Historical Examples of crisp

He started to get up, but the marshal's crisp voice cut in on him.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
Fill your salad bowl with the crisp leaves, from which the flowerhead has been plucked.
Her Father's Daughter
Gene Stratton-Porter
"It hasn't been convenient to do it before," was the crisp answer.
Dust
Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
Marny spoke in crisp, detached sentences between the pats of his brush.
The Underdog
F. Hopkinson Smith
If you baste it with any thing else, or with its own dripping, the skin will not be crisp.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie

British Dictionary definitions for crisp

crisp

adjective

dry and brittle

fresh and firmcrisp lettuce

invigorating or bracinga crisp breeze

clear; sharpcrisp reasoning

lively or stimulatingcrisp conversation

clean and orderly; neata crisp appearance

concise and pithy; tersea crisp reply

wrinkled or curlycrisp hair

verb

to make or become crisp

noun

British a very thin slice of potato fried and eaten cold as a snack

something that is crisp

Derived Formscrisply, adverbcrispness, noun

Word Origin for crisp

Old English, from Latin crispus curled, uneven, wrinkled

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for crisp

adj.

Old English crisp "curly," from Latin crispus "curled, wrinkled, having curly hair," from PIE root *(s)ker- "to turn, bend." It began to mean "brittle" 1520s, for obscure reasons, perhaps based on what happens to flat things when they are cooked. Figurative sense of "neat, brisk" is from 1814; perhaps a separate word. As a noun, from late 14c. Potato crisps (the British version of U.S. potato chips) is from 1929.

late 14c., "to curl," from crisp (adj.). Meaning "to become brittle" is from 1805. Related: Crisped; crisping.

Idioms and Phrases with crisp

crisp

see burn to a cinder (crisp).