■ adjective
1》 hard but liable to break easily.
2》 (of a voice) unpleasantly hard and sharp and showing signs of nervousness or instability.
■ noun a ~ sweet made from nuts and set melted sugar.
Derivatives
~ly (or brittly ) adverb
~ness noun
Origin
ME, ult. of Gmc origin and related to OE brēotan 'break up'.