brittleness C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities US /ˈbrɪtəlnəs/ UK /ˈbrɪtəlnəs/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun the quality of being hard yet liable to break or shatter Cold weather increased the brittleness of the metal beams. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · the quality of being hard... fragilityfrailtyfriabilitydelicacy ↔ Opposites toughnessresiliencedurabilityflexibility Word family Related forms brittlebrittly Etymology AI details From brittle (Middle English britel, related to Old English breotan, 'to break in pieces') + the noun-forming suffix -ness. breotan Old English View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # brittleness **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈbrɪtəlnəs/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈbrɪtəlnəs/ ## Meanings 1. the quality of being hard yet liable to break or shatter ## Examples - Cold weather increased the brittleness of the metal beams. ## Synonyms - fragility - frailty - friability - delicacy ## Antonyms - toughness - resilience - durability - flexibility ## Related Forms - brittle - brittly ## Roots and Affixes - Root: breotan ## Etymology From brittle (Middle English britel, related to Old English breotan, 'to break in pieces') + the noun-forming suffix -ness. ## AI Etymology Brittleness comes from brittle (Middle English britel, related to Old English breotan, 'to break in pieces') + the noun-forming suffix -ness. The historical trail runs through breotan in Old English. Morphologically, brittleness is transparent: it draws on brittle (Middle English britel, related to Old English breotan, 'to break in pieces') + the noun-forming suffix -ness. Used as a noun, brittleness now means "the quality of being hard yet liable to break or shatter", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as brittle and brittly. The modern word remains analyzable through its parts, which makes the semantic connection unusually direct. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown