Dictionary

breakable en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɹeɪkəbəl/
• audio

Etymology

Etymology tree English break Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Italic *-ðlom Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English breakable From break + -able.

Meanings

1. Able to break or be broken.
   • The accident was also one of several since Clapham […] that demonstrated the role of breakable windows in the death toll. RSSB research would later confirm and reinforce the need for laminated glass to protect passengers and increase survivability. 2021 February 24, Greg Morse, “Great Heck: a tragic chain of events”, in RAIL, number 925, page 42:
2. Fragile.
   • Next Christmas she sent us bisque dolls, very lovely but too breakable to hug; we could not even kiss them but they cracked. 1942, Emily Carr, “Ways of Getting Round”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC:

Forms

Antonyms

unbreakable

Deriveds

breakableness · nonbreakable · breakably

Synonyms

frangible · fragile

Translations (23)

hu törhető (able to be broken) · bg чуплив (able to be broken) · kk сынғақ (able to be broken) · pl łamliwy (able to be broken) · sv bräcklig (able to be broken) · ru ло́мкий (able to be broken) · fi särkyvä (able to be broken) · ca trencable (able to be broken) · frm frangible (able to be broken) · es rompible (able to be broken) · el διαρρηκτός (able to be broken) · eo rompebla (able to be broken) · bg трошлив (able to be broken) · fr frangible (able to be broken) · kk сынғыш (able to be broken) · cmn 易碎的 (able to be broken) · gv brishlagh (able to be broken) · gv so-vrishey (able to be broken) · es frangible (able to be broken) · ja 壊せる (able to be broken) · ak abobɔdeɛ (able to be broken) · da skrøbelig (able to be broken) · gl quebrábel (able to be broken)

breakable en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɹeɪkəbəl/
• audio

Etymology

Etymology tree English break Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Italic *-ðlom Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English breakable From break + -able.

Meanings

1. Something that is (easily) breakable.
   • We had to wrap all the breakables before the movers arrived.
   • She was, she wrote, “impatient and absent-minded, prone to drop things intentionally or through clumsiness, even breakables like dishes and love affairs; a woman who is perennially on the move, changing jobs and homes at the drop of a hat and inventing reasons afterward while she is packing; a person who runs away as soon as she gets nervous, long before she smells danger.” 2020 October 16, Sam Roberts, “Ruth Kluger, Author of a Haunting Holocaust Memoir, Dies at 88”, in The New York Times:
2. (plural-normally) A set of customized hardware that is part of a drum kit. Breakables typically consist of: the drummer's cymbals including high-hats, the snare drum, the kick pedal and the drummer's stool.

Forms

Translations (3)

cmn 易碎品 (something that is easily breakable) · pl łamliwy przedmiot (something that is easily breakable) · fi särkyvä (something that is easily breakable)