brittleness en · NOUN
Etymology
Etymology tree English brittle Proto-Germanic *-in- Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti Proto-Germanic *-ōną Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English brittleness From brittle + -ness.
Meanings
-
(uncountable, usually) The state of being brittle (in various senses).
[David] Riesman did his best, in prefaces to two subsequent editions of the book (at great length in 1961, and, with some brittleness about having to do it once more, in 1969), to correct this reading—to insist that he never meant to suggest that Americans now were any more conformist than they ever had been, or that there's even such a thing as social structure without conformist consensus.
2013 May 7, Gideon Lewis-Kraus, “Yelp and the Wisdom of "The Lonely Crowd"”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Aug 2023:In Scotland, the Tay [bridge] fell (in part) as textbook testament to the brittleness of cast iron.
2022 July 27, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Bridge disasters that spanned an Empire”, in RAIL, number 962, page 58:These vignettes often have the flavor of case studies, with interlocking themes related to the brittleness of the body and the complicated work of mourning.
2018 August 14, Parul Sehgal, “Fables Leap Back and Forth Through Time in 'Flights'”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 Apr 2023:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| brittlenesses | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Antonyms
resilience · bendability · pliability · toughness · ductility
Hyponyms
Relateds
Synonyms
Translations (28)
tr gevreklik (material property) · tr gevrek olma (state of being brittle) · ga sobhristeacht (state of being brittle) · es fragilidad (material property) · ga caireacht (state of being brittle) · mk кршливост (state of being brittle) · ru хрупкость (material property) · hi भंगुरता (state of being brittle) · de Brüchigkeit (material property) · az kövrəklik (material property) · fa هشاشت (state of being brittle) · fi hauraus (state of being brittle) · fi hauraus (material property) · mk кршливост (material property) · fr fragilité (material property) · hi भंगुरता (material property) · de Versprödung (material property) · nb sprøhet (material property) · ga aibrisce (state of being brittle) · ga sceiteacht (state of being brittle) · nb sprøhet (state of being brittle) · de Sprödigkeit (material property) · de Zerbrechlichkeit (material property) · tr kırılgan olma (state of being brittle) · ga brisce (state of being brittle) · tr kırılganlık (material property) · ru уязвимость (state of being brittle) · ru ломкость (material property)