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
Stepping into the band’s lead guitarist role was Nick Johnston, a forceful presence delivering crisp musical phrases that could be fittingly elegant or snarling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
It should be light and have a steady, crisp cadence—no clomping, scuffing or shuffling, as can happen when you have too much bulk under your feet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
I spent the summer watching farmers install showers for cows, watch their cauliflowers burn to a crisp in the heat, and search for apples in cider orchards reduced to a tenth of their normal crop.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
In Deadwood, the leaves grew in a perpetual state of fall: crisp and colorful and lazily slumping toward the forest floor.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
The Dodgers went up against an even crisper version of Sale than usual.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
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
Suddenly my vision is clearer, sounds are crisper.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
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
Aduba, 42, confirmed the news Sunday on Instagram, sharing a video that showcased the crispest of baby onesies along with a gentle “ta-da!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2023
Find a star and bring it in and out of focus until it is the smallest, crispest dot of light that you can make it.
From The Verge ● Jan. 26, 2022
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
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
"We get to see what people are eating, sometimes you get cigarette ends and it's interesting to see what crisps people are eating."
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
The meat browns, the tortilla crisps, and when you flip it, everything holds together like it was always meant to.
From Salon ● May 22, 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
I munched on my crisps, letting them soften in my mouth before I bit into them so as to make less noise.
From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd
In went the torn sourdough, which I thoroughly dunked in the custard, followed by crisped bacon, a small drizzle of bacon fat — sue me — cheddar, roasted peppers and minced onion.
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2026
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
But when it finally came out of the oven — improbably perfect, golden brown, the Bundt ridges crisped and glistening — I felt a little giddy.
From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2025
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
They get smash-grilled, crisping the exterior with Maillard-reaction goodness; at assembly, an extra slab of house-cured pork belly adds more smoke, salt and fat.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 26, 2023
You’ll start by crisping the skin of 2 or 3 salmon fillets.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 14, 2023
Athena lent a hand, making him seem taller, and massive too, with crisping hair in curls like petals of wild hyacinth, but all red-golden.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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