brittle

Fetched 2026-10-26 (cache).

Synonyms: bristle, brattle, brittly, bittle, writtle, crittle

Antonyms: bristle, brattle, brittly, bittle, writtle, crittle

Related words from Datamuse; suggestions, not definitions.

Adjective

1. [[inflexible|Inflexible]]; liable to [[break]], [[snap]], or [[shatter]] easily under [[stress]], [[pressure]], or [[impact]].
2. Not physically tough or [[tenacious]]; apt to break or [[crumble]] when bending.
3. {{lb|en|archaeology|of rocks, minerals, etc}} Tending to fracture in a [[conchoidal]] way; capable of being [[knap]]ped or [[flake]]d.
4. Emotionally [[fragile]], easily [[offend]]ed.
5. {{lb|en|engineering|computing|of a system}} Poorly [[error]]- or [[fault-tolerant]]; having little in the way of [[redundancy]] or [[defense in depth]]; susceptible to [[catastrophic]] [[failure]] in the event of a relatively-minor [[malfunction]] or [[deviance]].
6. {{lb|en|informal|proscribed|of [[diabetes]]}}<ref>[http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/endocrine_and_metabolic_disorders/diabetes_mellitus_and_disorders_of_carbohydrate_metabolism/diabetes_mellitus_dm.html Diabetes Mellitus (DM)], Merck manual</ref> Characterized by dramatic swings in blood sugar level.

Noun

1. A [[confection]] of [[caramelize]]d [[sugar]] and [[nut]]s.
2. {{lb|en|by extension}} Anything resembling this confection, such as [[flapjack]], a [[cereal bar]], etc.

Verb

1. {{lb|en|intransitive}} To become brittle.
2. {{lb|en|transitive|obsolete}} To [[gut]].

Proper noun

1. {{surname|en}}.

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wiktionary dump) · cached copy, not a rewrite.