as in brittle
having a texture that readily breaks into little pieces under pressure
a crumbly shortbread cookie
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Recent Examples of crumbly
This interesting variation has far better chocolate than the original, but the filling is crumbly and tastes more like oil than peanut butter.
—
Jolene Thym, Mercury News, 6 Feb. 2026
Lattafa Pride Artisan Ethnique Eau de Parfum Imagine a crumbly cinnamon cake dipped in an espresso martini with notes of warm cinnamon, rum, sugar, coffee, and vanilla.
—Reece Andavolgyi, InStyle, 5 Feb. 2026
Watch for pedestal logs, remnants of ancient trees perched atop a crumbly stand of thick clay as if on display.
—Roger Naylor, AZCentral.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Exactly these few curbless, bleached, and crumbly asphalt streets that curl back on themselves or run on out into the prairie.
—David Searcy, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crumbly
Jolene Thym, Mercury News, 6 Feb. 2026
Lattafa Pride Artisan Ethnique Eau de Parfum Imagine a crumbly cinnamon cake dipped in an espresso martini with notes of warm cinnamon, rum, sugar, coffee, and vanilla.
—Reece Andavolgyi, InStyle, 5 Feb. 2026
Watch for pedestal logs, remnants of ancient trees perched atop a crumbly stand of thick clay as if on display.
—Roger Naylor, AZCentral.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Exactly these few curbless, bleached, and crumbly asphalt streets that curl back on themselves or run on out into the prairie.
—David Searcy, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crumbly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crumbly
Adjective
-
Years of back-to-back manicures might leave you with weak, brittle nails—but knowing how to apply cuticle oil correctly is a game-changer.—
Dominic Cadogan,
Glamour,
2 Mar. 2026
-
But many high-conductivity solid materials are brittle and require heavy stack pressure to maintain contact between battery components.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
2 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Visitors can land at the old port and make the bumpy nine-mile drive down the length of the entire peninsula to reach the crisp waters of Bruce Beach.—
Melanie van Zyl,
Travel + Leisure,
6 Mar. 2026
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Distant objects appear just as crisp as nearby ones, and light of all wavelengths redshifts by identical factors.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Those unregulated hazardous substances include liquid waste, friable, asbestos wastes and combustion wastes.—
Stuart Dyos,
Nashville Tennessean,
16 Dec. 2025
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Texture comes into play here, as well, with wispy nests of friable katayifi topping each scallop.—
Rachel Bernhard,
jsonline.com,
29 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Crumbly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crumbly. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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