brittle
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
Etymology [edit]
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 [edit]
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 [edit]
Translations [edit]
able to break or snap easily under stress or pressure
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apt to break or crumble when bending
emotionally fragile, easily offended
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Noun [edit]
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.
Synonyms [edit]
Translations [edit]
confection of caramelized sugar and nuts
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Diabetes Mellitus (DM), Merck manual
- brittle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
