I. ˈbrid. ə l, -it ə l adjective
Etymology: Middle English britil; akin to Old English brēotan to break, Old High German brōdi frail, Old Norse brjōta to break, Sanskrit bhrūṇa embryo
1.
a.
(1) : easily broken, cracked, or snapped : apt to break or snap easily especially under very slight bending or deformation
brittle clay
brittle glass
as brittle as an eggshell
(2) of a metal or alloy : having very low malleability or ductility
b. : easily disrupted, overthrown, damaged, or disintegrated : frail
a brittle promise
brittle honor — Shakespeare
a brittle marriage
c. : requiring careful handling : difficult
a brittle personality
d. : sharp , brilliant , tense
the light, brittle tones of an orchestra of xylophones — Asia & the Americas
the brittle staccato of the drums — H.A.Sinclair
could hardly understand what was said to him, so brittle and sharp was the sound — Pearl Buck
2.
a. : perishable , mortal
b. : transitory , evanescent
3. : lacking warmth, depth, or generosity of spirit : cold , calculating
she was harder, more brittle , than Effie ever was — Rex Ingamells
a brittle and selfish woman who calculates her ends coldly and by sheer poise and self-possession usually gets her way — Chad Walsh
the brittle , cynical, beautiful legends of Ovid — Gilbert Highet
• brit·tle·ly or brit·tly -d. ə l(l)ē, -t ə l-, -)i; -tlē, -tli adverb
• brit·tle·ness -id. ə lnə̇s, -it ə l- noun -es
II. noun
( -s )
: candy made by boiling sugar to the point of caramelization, adding nuts, and cooling in thin sheets
III. adjective
: affected with or being a form of type 1 diabetes characterized by large and unpredictable fluctuations in blood glucose level