Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

crumbly

American  
[kruhm-blee] / ˈkrʌm bli /

adjective

  • crumblier,
    comparative
  • crumbliest
    superlative
  1. apt to crumble; friable.


crumbly British  
/ ˈkrʌmblɪ /

adjective

  1. easily crumbled or crumbling

"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

noun

  1. slang an older person

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Adjectives


Etymology

Origin of crumbly

First recorded in 1515–25; crumble + -y 1


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:

During the first 500,000 years, the amount of crumbly material dropped before rising again over the following million years.

From Science Daily ● May 26, 2026

An oil driller tapped into the wet, crumbly ore at Florence in the 1970s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 2, 2025

But cornmeal is also thirsty, and my first attempt — which leaned on a mixture of olive oil, melted butter and a single egg for moisture — was dry, almost crumbly.

From Salon ● Apr. 3, 2025

Some storms are warm and wet, like frosting; others are cold and dry, like crumbly pastry.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2025

But the gravel was deep and crumbly, and Nim’s foot twisted—and she rolled and skidded and tumbled down the mountain.

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr

It will be crumblier when you make it without gluten, but the heartiness makes up for that.

From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2023

The resulting cake is crumblier — because duh, it doesn't have the fat! — but it's good.

From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2022

This fall, we set out to publish the most delicious apple-cranberry crisp recipe of all time — one that was bursting with juicy fruit, lightly spiced, with the butteriest, crumbliest topping.

From Salon ● Nov. 12, 2022

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word


Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training