Transcription
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
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- [brit-l]
- /ˈbrɪt l/
- /ˈbrɪt.l̩/
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
-
- [brit-l]
- /ˈbrɪt l/
Definitions of brittle word
- adjective brittle An object or substance that is brittle is hard but easily broken. 3
- adjective brittle If you describe a situation, relationship, or someone's mood as brittle, you mean that it is unstable, and may easily change. 3
- graded adjective brittle Someone who is brittle seems rather sharp and insensitive and says things which are likely to hurt other people's feelings. 3
- graded adjective brittle A brittle sound is short, loud, and sharp. 3
- adjective brittle easily cracked, snapped, or broken; fragile 3
- adjective brittle curt or irritable 3
Information block about the term
Origin of brittle
First appearance:
before 1350 One of the 20% oldest English words
1350-1400; Middle English britel, equivalent to brit- (akin to Old English brysten fragment) + -el adj. suffix
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Brittle
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
brittle popularity
A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 95% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".
brittle usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerSynonyms for brittle
adj brittle
- breakable — Breakable objects are easy to break by accident.
- crisp — Food that is crisp is pleasantly hard, or has a pleasantly hard surface.
- frail — having delicate health; not robust; weak: My grandfather is rather frail now.
- crumbling — to break into small fragments or crumbs.
- crumbly — Something that is crumbly is easily broken into a lot of little pieces.
Antonyms for brittle
adj brittle
- unbreakable — to smash, split, or divide into parts violently; reduce to pieces or fragments: He broke a vase.
- durable — able to resist wear, decay, etc., well; lasting; enduring.
- resilient — springing back; rebounding.
- supple — bending readily without breaking or becoming deformed; pliant; flexible: a supple bough.
- flexible — capable of being bent, usually without breaking; easily bent: a flexible ruler.
Top questions with brittle
- how to make peanut brittle?
- what does brittle mean?
- what causes brittle nails?
- how to make brownie brittle?
- how to make pecan brittle?
- most ionic substances are brittle why?
- why are most ionic substances brittle?
- how do you make peanut brittle?
- how to make brittle?
- what is brittle?
- why are my toenails brittle?
- which is the reason that ionic compounds are brittle?
- why are ionic compounds brittle?
- what is a brittle diabetic?
- why are my nails brittle?
See also
Matching words
- Words starting with b
- Words starting with br
- Words starting with bri
- Words starting with brit
- Words starting with britt
- Words starting with brittl
- Words starting with brittle