brittle

/ˈbɹɪtl̩/

//ˈbɹɪtl̩// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"brittle" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“brittle” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,054. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,054
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Inflexible; liable to break, snap, or shatter easily under stress, pressure, or impact.

Corpus desk

Index EN-brittle · brittle · English

brittle · rank #20,054 · 9 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,054
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH booths

Nearest frequency peer: booths (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “brittle”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “brittle” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

brittle vs Britt
57% similar
brittle vs battle
71% similar
brittle vs bottle
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for brittle
PropertyValue
Headwordbrittle
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈbɹɪtl̩/
Letters7
Frequency rank#20,054
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “brittle”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).brittlelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “booths” (#20,053), “budding” (#20,055), “boomer” (#20,052). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “brittle” is #20,054. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around brittle (IPA /ˈbɹɪtl̩/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #20,054 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for brittle, with forms such as "bbrittle", "birttle", and "britle". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "Britt", "battle", "bottle", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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. The correct English form is brittle, spelled B-R-I-T-T-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Inflexible; liable to break, snap, or shatter easily under stress, pressure, or impact.
  2. 2
    Not physically tough or tenacious; apt to break or crumble when bending.
  3. 3
    Tending to fracture in a conchoidal way; capable of being knapped or flaked.
  4. 4
    Emotionally fragile, easily offended.
  5. 5
    Poorly error- or fault-tolerant; having little in the way of redundancy or defense in depth; susceptible to catastrophic failure in the event of a relatively-minor malfunction or deviance.
  6. 6
    Characterized by dramatic swings in blood sugar level.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how brittle appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Near-synonym: crackly
  2. Cast iron is much more brittle than forged iron.

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.

This word in other languages

frágil(Español)fragile(Français)spröde(Deutsch)frágil(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbrittle
  • birttle
  • britle
  • britlte
  • brittel
  • brittlle
  • brrittle
  • brtitle
  • rbittle

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of brittle - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

bbrittle1birttle2britle1britlte2brittel2brittlle1brrittle1brtitle2
Edit distance from "brittle"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "brittle"?
"brittle" is spelled B-R-I-T-T-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɹɪtl̩/.
What does "brittle" mean?
As an adjective, "brittle" means: Inflexible; liable to break, snap, or shatter easily under stress, pressure, or impact.
What words are commonly confused with "brittle"?
"brittle" is commonly confused with "Britt", "battle", "bottle". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "brittle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "brittle" is /ˈbɹɪtl̩/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "brittle"?
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. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "brittle", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

budding#20,055Chatham#20,058cheaply#20,059bedrock#20,044

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

booths9 variantsChiang9 variantsclogged9 variantscompel9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list