brittleness

brit·tle  (brtl)

adj. brit·tler, brit·tlest

1.

a. Likely to break, snap, or crack, as when subjected to pressure: brittle bones.

b. Easily damaged or disrupted; fragile: a brittle friendship. See Synonyms at fragile.

2.

a. Difficult to deal with; snappish: a brittle disposition.

b. Lacking warmth of feeling; cold: a reputation for being brittle and aloof.

3. Brilliantly sharp, as in percussive sound.

4.

a. Perishable.

b. Fleeting; transitory.

n.

A confection of caramelized sugar to which nuts are added: walnut brittle.

---

[Middle English britel, probably from Old English *brytel, from bryttian, to shatter.]

---

brittle·ly (brtl-) adv.

brittle·ness n.

---

brittleness [ˈbrɪt^əlnɪs]

n

1. the quality of being brittle

2. (Engineering / Metallurgy) Metallurgy the tendency of a metal to break without being significantly distorted or exposed to a high level of stress Compare toughness [2] softness [2]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

brittleness - firm but easily broken crispiness, crispness breakableness - the consistency of something that breaks under pressure flakiness - having or breaking into thin crisp flakes

Translations

brittleness [ˈbrɪtlnɪs] N → lo quebradizo

brittleness

n

→ Sprödigkeit f, → Zerbrechlichkeit f; (of old paper) → Bröckligkeit f; (of biscuit) → Mürbheit f; (of bones) → Schwäche f

(fig, of nerves) → Schwäche f; (of person) → Empfindlichkeit f; (of voice, laugh) → Schrillheit f