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
Non-crumbly Protein Bars Speaking of protein, Whitmore, Hirst, and Grotts are also fond of protein bars.
—
Karla Walsh, Travel + Leisure, 8 Feb. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for crumbly
Karla Walsh, Travel + Leisure, 8 Feb. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for crumbly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crumbly
Adjective
-
The National Transportation Safety Board traced that explosion to a brittle crack in a plastic gas pipe manufactured in 1970.—
Lexi Salazar,
CBS News,
15 Apr. 2026
-
All along the road, trees raised their scrawny hands, white-knuckled against the brittle sky.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Add the buckwheat groats and toast, shaking and tossing often and adjusting heat as needed, until crisp and light golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes.—
Kelly McCarthy,
ABC News,
16 Apr. 2026
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Crisp and Polished Linen ensembles can be saviors on warm days, and Quince has several crisp options to add to your workwear rotation this season.—
Tanya Sharma,
PEOPLE,
16 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
However, the fragile and friable nature of aged amber likely posed a significant challenge to its removal.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
10 Mar. 2026
-
Those unregulated hazardous substances include liquid waste, friable, asbestos wastes and combustion wastes.—
Stuart Dyos,
Nashville Tennessean,
16 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Crumbly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crumbly. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
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