brittle

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A renowned theater director who has embarked on a kind of permanent vacation in his 60s, he continues: “I am wifeless, childless, brotherless, sisterless, I am my well-known self, made glittering and brittle by fame.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

Confidence in the software sector is brittle and AI fears are dominating investor sentiment.

From Barron's • Feb. 24, 2026

"This makes the tendons more brittle and impairs their mechanical function," explains Greta Moschini, a doctoral student in De Bock and Snedeker's groups and lead author of the study.

From Science Daily • Feb. 12, 2026

We move in a familiar loop: outrage at dysfunction, ritualized critique, then a quiet hope that the same brittle systems will somehow stabilize themselves when the stakes get high.

From Salon • Jan. 24, 2026

I was preparing to move away, to let my mother and sister say goodbye, when he coughed—a brittle, rasping hack that sounded like crepe paper being crinkled.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover