—adj. hard and fragile; apt to break.
—n. a brittle sweet made from nuts and set melted sugar.
Phrases and idioms:
brittle-bone disease = OSTEOPOROSIS. brittle-star an echinoderm of the class Ophiuroidea, with long brittle arms radiating from a small central body.
Derivatives:
brittlely adv. brittleness n. brittly adv.
Etymology: ME ult. f. a Gmc root rel. to OE breotan break up
Useful english dictionary. 2012.