Word.ws English Dictionary

brittlely

/ˈbɹɪt.l̩.(l)i/

brittlely adverb: in a brittle way, shattering easily under stress.

Adverb

brittlely (comparative more brittlely, superlative most brittlely)

  1. In a brittle way, shattering easily under stress.
    • He was flung full-length against ice that cracked brittlely under his impact.1930, Alice Alison Lide, Margaret Alison Johansen, chapter IX, in Ood-le-uk the Wanderer, page 134
  2. In a manner that is emotionally fragile, or easily offended.
    • ‘Don’t get upset. They’ll start asking questions and I know you hate people being in your business.’ Ola laughed brittlely as she blew her nose.2023, Yomi Adegoke, The List, 4th Estate, page 92

Forms of brittlely

comparativemore brittlely
superlativemost brittlely
alternative formbrittly

Origin of brittlely

From brittle + -ly.

Questions about brittlely

What does brittlely mean?
Brittlely means in a brittle way, shattering easily under stress.
What part of speech is brittlely?
Brittlely is an adverb.
How do you pronounce brittlely?
Brittlely is pronounced /ˈbɹɪt.l̩.(l)i/.

Words near brittlely in the dictionary

  1. brittlebush
  2. brittlebushes
  3. brittled
  4. brittlegill
  5. brittlegills
  6. brittlely
  7. brittleness
  8. brittlenesses
  9. brittler
  10. brittles
  11. brittlesome

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: brittlely (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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