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
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Contact with the near minus-260-degree Fahrenheit liquid or its super‑cold vapors can cause severe injuries similar to burns, and materials exposed to such temperatures can become brittle and fail.—
Joel McPherson,
The Orlando Sentinel,
25 Mar. 2026
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Older roofs are more brittle and likely to fail when hail strikes a home than those that are newer.—
Andrea Riquier,
USA Today,
24 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Jude and the cinematographer Marius Panduru shot the film on an iPhone, and the nimbleness and range of their outdoor setups summon forth images of a crisp, unshowy beauty.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
27 Mar. 2026
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Hubble captures crisp, long-term visible-light views of Saturn's cloud bands and atmospheric changes, while the JWST peers deeper into the planet's atmosphere in infrared, revealing heat patterns and structures hidden beneath the upper cloud layers.—
Samantha Mathewson,
Space.com,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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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 30 Mar. 2026.
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