brittleadjective
uk/ˈbrɪt.əl/us/ˈbrɪt̬.əl/brittle adjective (EASILY BROKEN)
delicate and easily broken:
As you get older your bones become increasingly brittle.
The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Fragile and breakable
- breakable
- crumbly
- delicacy
- delicate
- dodgy
- fissile
- flaky
- flimsy
- fragile
- frail
- friable
- ramshackle
- rickety
- tenuous
brittle adjective (UNKIND)
unkind and unpleasant:
She gave a brittle laugh and turned away.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Unkind, cruel & unfeeling
- acerbic
- acidly
- backbite
- backbiting
- backhanded
- barbaric
- bilious
- cutthroat
- fiendish
- hard-hearted
- have a heart of stone idiom
- have a sharp tongue idiom
- insensible
- malign
- remorseless
- ruthless
- sadism
- sadist
- savagery
- waspish
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