different between flaky vs brittle

English

Alternative forms

• flakey

Etymology

flake +? -y (“having the quality of”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fle?ki?/
• Rhymes: -e?ki

Adjective

flaky (comparative flakier, superlative flakiest)

1. Consisting of flakes or of small, loose masses; lying, or cleaving off, in flakes or layers; flakelike.
2. (informal, of a person) Unreliable; likely to make plans with others but then abandon those plans.
   • 2014, Joseph Itiel, A Consumer's Guide to Male Hustlers

     I have noticed that when hustlers upgrade themselves to models (as distinguished from models who have never hustled) they tend to continue being flaky about appointments. On my last trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico, I was stood up twice.

3. (informal, of a thing) Unreliable; working only on an intermittent basis; likely to malfunction.

   I cannot enjoy the online game because of my flaky Internet connection.

Derived terms

• flakily

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English britel, brutel, brotel (“brittle”), from Old English *brytel, *bryttol (“brittle, fragile”, literally “prone to or tending to break”); equivalent to brit +? -le.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b??tl?/
• Rhymes: -?t?l

Adjective

brittle (comparative brittler or more brittle, superlative brittlest or most brittle)

1. Inflexible, liable to break or snap easily under stress or pressure.

   Cast iron is much more brittle than forged iron.

   A diamond is hard but brittle.
2. Not physically tough or tenacious; apt to break or crumble when bending.

   Shortbread is my favorite cold pastry, yet being so brittle it crumbles easily, and a lot goes to waste.

3. (archaeology) Said of rocks and minerals with a conchoidal fracture; capable of being knapped or flaked.
4. Emotionally fragile, easily offended.

   What a brittle personality! A little misunderstanding and he's an emotional wreck.

5. (informal, proscribed) Diabetes that is characterized by dramatic swings in blood sugar level.

Derived terms

• brittle bone disease
• brittlebush
• brittlegill
• brittle hair syndrome
• brittlely, brittly
• brittleness
• brittle star
• brittlestem
• quasibrittle

Translations

Noun

brittle (usually uncountable, plural brittles)

1. A confection of caramelized sugar and nuts.

   As a child, my favorite candy was peanut brittle.

2. Anything resembling this confection, such as flapjack, a cereal bar, etc.

Synonyms

• brickle

Translations

See also

• break, breakable
• short (adjective)

References

• brittle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• blitter, triblet