Definition
Brittle things are strong right up until they are not. A brittle material — glass, dry bone, aged plastic — resists pressure without flexing, storing the strain instead of absorbing it, until it fails all at once and shatters. The word's lesson is the opposite of resilient: what cannot bend has nowhere to put a shock, so it breaks. Figuratively, a brittle smile or a brittle peace is one held rigid over tension, and just as quick to crack.
Examples
- Glass is hard but brittle: it will not bend even slightly before it shatters.
- Years of frost can make exposed rock brittle enough to erode at a touch.
- Their alliance looked solid but proved brittle, cracking at the first real disagreement.
Collocations
brittle bones·grow brittle·brittle and prone to cracking·a brittle smile
Synonyms
fragile·delicate·frail·crumbly·breakable
Antonyms
resilient·flexible·supple
Word family
brittleness (noun)
In TOEFL & IELTS
TOEFL science passages use 'brittle' literally — brittle materials, brittle bones, brittle deformation in geology — often contrasted with flexible or ductile ones. In IELTS Writing it works figuratively for fragile systems ('a brittle economy'). The key contrast to learn is brittle versus resilient: one shatters under stress, the other absorbs it. Note the noun 'brittleness'.