different between dainty vs brittle

English

Etymology

From Middle English deynte, from Old French deintié, from Latin dignit?tem. Doublet of dignity.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?de?nti/
• Rhymes: -e?nti

Noun

dainty (plural dainties)

1. A delicacy (in taste).
   • 1791, William Cowper, The Odyssey of Homer
2. (obsolete) Esteem, honour.
3. (Canada, Prairies and northwestern Ontario) A fancy cookie, pastry, or square, typically homemade, served at a social event (usually plural).
4. (obsolete) An affectionate term of address.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ben Jonson to this entry?)

Related terms

Translations

Adjective

dainty (comparative daintier, superlative daintiest)

1. (obsolete) Excellent; valuable, fine.
2. Elegant; delicately small and pretty.
3. Fastidious and fussy, especially when eating.
   • 1623, Francis Bacon, An Advertisement touching an Holy War

Synonyms

• neat
• petite

Derived terms

• daintily
• daintiness

Translations

References

• “dainty” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.

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