brittle

English

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Brittle

Pronunciation

Etymology

From Middle English britel, brutel, brotel (“brittle”), from Old English *brytel, *bryttol (“brittle, fragile”, literally “prone to or tending to break”), equivalent to brit +‎ -le. More at brit.

Adjective

brittle (comparative brittler or more brittle, superlative brittlest or most brittle)

Inflexible, liable to break or snap easily under stress or pressure.
Cast iron is much more brittle than forged iron.

A diamond is hard but brittle.
- 1977, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, Penguin Classics, p. 329:
  'Do you suppose our convent, and I too, / Are insufficient, then, to pray for you? / Thomas, that joke's not good. Your faith is brittle.
Not physically tough or tenacious; apt to break or crumble when bending.
- Shortbread is my favorite cold pastry, yet being so brittle it crumbles easily, and a lot goes to waste.
(archaeology) Said of rocks and minerals with a conchoidal fracture; capable of being knapped or flaked.
Emotionally fragile, easily offended.
What a brittle personality! A little misunderstanding and he's an emotional wreck.
(informal, proscribed)^[1]Diabetes that is characterized by dramatic swings in blood sugar level.

Related terms

brittleness

Translations

able to break or snap easily under stress or pressure

Bulgarian: крехък (bg) (krehǎk), чуплив (bg) (čupliv), трошлив (bg) (trošliv)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 易碎的 (cmn)，易损坏的 (cmn)
Czech: křehký (cs), lámavý (cs)
Danish: skøre
Dutch: bros (nl)
Finnish: hauras (fi)
French: fragile (fr)
German: spröde (de), brüchig (de), bröckelig (de), mürbe (de), morsch (de)

Icelandic: brothætt
Italian: fragile (it)
Jèrriais: brouyi, câsuel
Manx: so-vrishey (gv)
Norwegian: sprø (no)
Polish: kruchy (pl) m
Portuguese: frágil (1,2), quebradiço m (1), quebradiça f (1)
Russian: хрупкий (ru) (xrúpkij) , ломкий (ru) (lómkij)
Spanish: frágil (es), quebradizo (es), friable (es)

apt to break or crumble when bending

Dutch: breekbaar (nl)
Finnish: hauras (fi), hapero (fi)
German: spröde (de)

Russian: хрупкий (ru) (xrúpkij)
Spanish: frágil (es)

emotionally fragile, easily offended

Bulgarian: чувствителен (bg) (čuvstvitelen), обидчив (bg) (obidčiv)
Czech: přecitlivělý (cs), citlivý (cs)
Finnish: herkkä (fi), hauras (fi), herkkätunteinen (fi)
German: reizbar (de), kühl (de)

Russian: чувствительный (ru) (čuvstvítelʹnyj) (first "в" (v) is silent), уязвимый (ru) (ujazvímyj) , беззащитный (ru) (bezzaščítnyj) , обидчивый (ru) (obídčivyj)

Noun

brittle (countable and uncountable; plural brittles)

(uncountable) A confection of caramelized sugar and nuts.
As a child, my favorite candy was peanut brittle.
(uncountable) Anything resembling this confection, such as flapjack, a cereal bar, etc.