brittle
/ˈbɹɪtəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.28 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
adj
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.
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonyms: crackly, (technical) brash"
- "Cast iron is much more brittle than forged iron."
- "A diamond is hard but brittle."
- "'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."
- "Shortbread is my favorite cold pastry, yet being so brittle it crumbles easily, and a lot goes to waste."
- "What a brittle person! A little misunderstanding and he's an emotional wreck."
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Inflected Forms
brittler (comparative)
more brittle (comparative)
brittlest (superlative)
most brittle (superlative)
brittles (plural)
brittles (present, singular)
brittling (participle, present)
brittled (participle, past)
brittled (past)