un-brittlest
l adjective
1.
having hardness and rigidity but little tensile strength; breaking readily with a comparatively smooth fracture, as glass.
2.
easily damaged or destroyed; fragile; frail: a brittle marriage.
3.
lacking warmth, sensitivity, or compassion; aloof; self-centered: a self-possessed, cool, and rather brittle person.
4.
having a sharp, tense quality: a brittle tone of voice.
5.
unstable or impermanent; evanescent.
noun
6.
a confection of melted sugar, usually with nuts, brittle when cooled: peanut brittle.
00:10
Un-brittlest
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
verb (used without object)
7.
to be or become brittle; crumble.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English britel, equivalent to brit- (akin to Old English brysten fragment) + -el adj. suffix
1350–1400; Middle English britel, equivalent to brit- (akin to Old English brysten fragment) + -el adj. suffix
Related forms
brit·tle·ness, noun
un·brit·tle, adjective
un·brit·tle·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To un-brittlest
Collins
World English Dictionary
brittle (ˈbrɪtəl) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | easily cracked, snapped, or broken; fragile |
| 2. | curt or irritable: a brittle reply |
| 3. | hard or sharp in quality |
| —n | |
| 4. | a crunchy sweet made with treacle and nuts: peanut brittle |
| [C14: from Old English brytel (unattested); related to brytsen fragment, brēotan to break] | |
| 'brittlely | |
| —adv | |
| 'brittly | |
| —adv | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
brittle
M.E. britel, perhaps from an unrecorded O.E. adj. *brytel, related to brytan "to crush, pound, to break to pieces," from P.Gmc. stem *brutila- "brittle," from *breutan "to break up" (cf. O.N. brjota "to break," O.H.G. brodi "fragile"), and related to bruise. With -le, suffix
forming adjectives with meaning "liable to."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
brittle  (brĭt'l) Pronunciation Key
Having a tendency to break when subject to high stress. Brittle materials have undergone very little strain when they reach their elastic limit, and tend to break at that limit. Compare ductile. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
brittle
adj. Said of software that is functional but easily broken by changes in operating environment or configuration, or by any minor tweak to the software itself. Also, any system that responds inappropriately and disastrously to abnormal but expected external stimuli; e.g., a file system that is usually totally scrambled by a power failure is said to be brittle. This term is often used to describe the results of a research effort that were never intended to be robust, but it can be applied to commercial software, which (due to closed-source development) displays the quality far more often than it ought to. Oppose robust.
Jargon
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