Meaning & use
brittleness
Last updated
the quality of being easily broken, snapped, or shattered, especially when hard or rigid
See it in a sentence
Cold weather increased the brittleness of the old plastic pipes.
The engineer tested the alloy's brittleness under repeated stress.
A note on using this word
Used both literally, for materials that shatter rather than bend, and figuratively, for a mood or relationship that feels tense and easily broken.
Words with a similar meaning
fragility
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
flexibilitytoughness
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