brittly
Like something easily shattered
Brittly is the adverb form of brittle, describing something done in a manner that is fragile, easily broken, or lacking flexibility.
It most often characterizes speech or behavior that seems stiff, tense, or emotionally fragile: She laughed brittly at his joke, clearly uncomfortable.
The word is uncommon, as writers typically restructure sentences to use the adjective brittle instead.
Without emotional warmth
- curtlyRudely brief in speech
- sharplyIn a cutting manner
- tenselyIn strained manner
- edgilyIn anxious manner
nervously · irritably · snappishly · touchily · thinly · fragilely · vulnerably · defensively
Without emotional inflection
- crunchilyWith audible texture
- crisplyIn a sharp, clear manner
- stifflyIn inflexible manner
- rigidlyIn an unyielding manner
harshly · crackly · snappily · flakily · scratchily · coarsely · gratingly · raspingly
In a breaking manner
- delicatelyIn a careful, subtle manner
- fragilelyIn breakable manner
- crisplyIn a sharp, clear manner
- flakilyIn unreliable fashion
fragmentarily · precariously · tenuously · weakly · feebly · insubstantially · frailly · flimsily
coldly
Without emotional warmth
edgily · nervously · irritably · snappishly · touchily · thinly · fragilely · vulnerably · defensively · guardedly
dryly
Without emotional inflection
rigidly · harshly · crackly · snappily · flakily · scratchily · coarsely · gratingly · raspingly · parched
shatteringly
In a breaking manner
- delicatelyIn a careful, subtle manner
- fragilelyIn breakable manner
- crisplyIn a sharp, clear manner
flakily · fragmentarily · precariously · tenuously · weakly · feebly · insubstantially · frailly · flimsily · unstably
brittlyflexibly
In an adaptable manner
pliantly · elastically · supplely · resiliently · yieldingly
- peanut brittleHard candy with legumes
- nut brittleHardened sugar with seeds
- brittle bonesWeak, breakable skeletal tissue
- brittle nailsEasily broken finger coverings
- brittle hairEasily broken head strands
- almond brittleHard candy with nuts
brittle, brittleness, brittlest, embrittlement, brittler, embrittled