adj. & n.
adj. hard and fragile; apt to break.
n. a brittle sweet made from nuts and set melted sugar. brittle-bone disease = OSTEOPOROSIS. brittle-star an echinoderm of the class Ophiuroidea, with long brittle arms radiating from a small central body. brittlely adv. brittleness n. brittly adv.
[ ME ult. f. a Gmc root rel. to OE breotan break up ]