Meaning & use
friable
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparabletechnical
Easily broken into small bits or crumbled into powder, especially between the fingers.
Grammar: Describes soil, rock, pastry or similar material: friable soil.
Patterns
- friable soil
- friable material
Friable soil is easy to dig and good for growing carrots.
The old plaster was so friable that it fell away at a touch.
Sandstone is more friable than granite.
adjectivebefore a nounspecialist
Describing building material, such as insulation, that releases dangerous fibers when disturbed.
Grammar: Used in building safety, often in friable asbestos.
Patterns
- friable asbestos
Friable asbestos must be removed by licensed workers.
The inspector found friable insulation in the attic.
Disturbing friable materials can put dust in the air.
Word forms
| comparative | more friable |
|---|---|
| superlative | most friable |
Common combinations
- friable soil
- Gardeners prize friable soil for seed beds.
- friable asbestos
- Friable asbestos is a serious health hazard.
- friable texture
- The pastry had a light, friable texture.
- highly friable
- The rock was highly friable and hard to climb.
- friable rock
- The cliff is made of friable rock that crumbles in rain.
Synonyms and how they differ
- crumbly
- Crumbly is the common word, while friable is a technical word used by gardeners, geologists and builders.
- brittle
- Brittle means something snaps or shatters when hit, whereas friable material crumbles under light pressure.
- powdery
- Powdery describes the finished state, not how easily something breaks into powder.
- fragile
- Fragile means easily damaged in any way, so it is broader than friable.
Opposites
Word family
- friability noun
- how easily something crumbles
- friably adverb
- in a crumbly manner, rare
- unfriable adjective
- not easily crumbled, rare
Commonly confused: friable or friendly? friable or fryable?
friable vs friendly
Friendly means kind, and sounds nothing like friable, although both begin with fri-.
friable vs fryable
Fryable is not a standard word; friable has no link with frying.
Practice
The soil in the new garden bed was so ___ that it broke apart in my hands.
Choose one answer.
Friable soil crumbles easily. Fertile soil is rich but may not crumble, and frozen and frugal do not describe crumbling.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “friable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.