friable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of friable
First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin friābilis, equivalent to friā(re) “to rub, crumble” + -ābilis -able
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.
Britain is a “defiant but friable little nation floating off the edge of a continent” that itself is “an appendix of Asia.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026
The Army Corps, he wrote, “estimates that 50% of the sites on the property contain friable asbestos.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2025
In 1936, the name "Ehlers-Danlos syndrome" was proposed and three cardinal symptoms were identified: joints had to be overly bendy, and skin had to be both stretchy and unusually "friable", meaning it crumbled easily.
From BBC • Sep. 28, 2022
“Dawson’s Fall” asks what truth means in an era when conviction matters more, and Roxana Robinson’s answer — that morality is friable — should make us sit up and tremble.
From New York Times • May 31, 2019
But in the shade of the papaya trees the soil was dark brown, with the moist, friable feel that gardeners seek.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
