frangible
/ˈfɹæn(d)ʒɪb(ə)l/
frangible means able to be broken; breakable, fragile. It carries an Arena rating of 1759, earned across 99 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, frangible ranks #1,746 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #4,286 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #4,475 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #4,761 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words.
frangible is pronounced /ˈfɹæn(d)ʒɪb(ə)l/.
Why “frangible” is a great word
FRANGIBLE — [Adjective] Capable of being broken; designed to break or shatter easily, especially upon impact. From Late Middle English frangible, from Middle French frangible or Medieval Latin frangibilis, from Latin frangere ("to break"), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- ("to break"). Unlike "fragile," which implies an innate delicacy, or "infrangible," its direct, unyielding antonym, "frangible" denotes a deliberate, engineered vulnerability. It is the scored line on a tablet, the sacrificial shear pin in a gearbox, or the frangible bullet that powders on impact—a concession where calculated breakage becomes the guarantor of safety, and destruction is a preordained, preserving art.
Etymology
From Late Middle English frangible, frangibil, from Middle French frangible, or from Medieval Latin frangibilis, from Latin frangere (from frangō (“to break, shatter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”)) + -ibilis (suffix forming adjectives indicating a capacity or worth of being acted upon).
adj
- Able to be broken; breakable, fragile.
noun
- Something that is breakable or fragile; especially something that is intentionally made so, such as a bullet.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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