breakable

B3R1E1A1K5A1B3L1E1
/ˈbɹeɪkəbəl/

adjective

Able to break or be broken.

“We had to wrap all the breakables before the movers arrived.”

Opposite
UncommonScrabble 17

Meanings

adjectivebreakable (comparative more breakable, superlative most breakable)

comparative more breakable · superlative most breakable

  1. Able to break or be broken.

    The accident was also one of several since Clapham […] that demonstrated the role of breakable windows in the death toll. RSSB research would later confirm and reinforce the need for laminated glass to protect passengers and increase survivability.

    2021 February 24, Greg Morse, “Great Heck: a tragic chain of events”, in RAIL, number 925, page 42
  2. Fragile.

    Next Christmas she sent us bisque dolls, very lovely but too breakable to hug; we could not even kiss them but they cracked.

    1942, Emily Carr, “Ways of Getting Round”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC
nounbreakable (plural breakables)

plural breakables

  1. Something that is (easily) breakable.

    We had to wrap all the breakables before the movers arrived.

    1 more example

    She was, she wrote, “impatient and absent-minded, prone to drop things intentionally or through clumsiness, even breakables like dishes and love affairs; a woman who is perennially on the move, changing jobs and homes at the drop of a hat and inventing reasons afterward while she is packing; a person who runs away as soon as she gets nervous, long before she smells danger.”

    2020 October 16, Sam Roberts, “Ruth Kluger, Author of a Haunting Holocaust Memoir, Dies at 88”, in The New York Times
  2. plural normallyentertainmentA set of customized hardware that is part of a drum kit. Breakables typically consist of: the drummer's cymbals including high-hats, the snare drum, the kick pedal and the drummer's stool.

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite

adjectivecapable of being broken or damaged

Opposite

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰreg-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰrégeti
  3. Proto-Germanic*brekaną
  4. Proto-West Germanic*brekan
  5. Old Englishbrecan
  6. Middle Englishbreken
  7. Englishbreak
  8. Englishbreakable

From break + -able.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian чуплив, трошлив
  • чуплив (čupliv)able to be broken
  • трошлив (trošliv)able to be broken
Catalan trencable
  • trencableable to be broken
Chinese Mandarin 易碎的, 易碎品
  • 易碎的 (yì suì de)able to be broken
  • 易碎品something that is easily breakable
Danish skrøbelig
  • skrøbeligable to be broken
Esperanto rompebla
  • rompeblaable to be broken
Finnish särkyvä, särkyvä
  • särkyväable to be broken
  • särkyväsomething that is easily breakable
French frangible
  • frangibleable to be broken
Greek διαρρηκτός
  • διαρρηκτός (diarriktós)able to be broken
Hungarian törhető
  • törhetőable to be broken
Japanese 壊せる
  • 壊せる (kowaseru)able to be broken
Polish łamliwy, łamliwy przedmiot
  • łamliwyable to be broken
  • łamliwy przedmiotsomething that is easily breakable
Russian ло́мкий
  • ло́мкий (lómkij)able to be broken
Spanish frangible, rompible
  • frangibleable to be broken
  • rompibleable to be broken
Swedish bräcklig
  • bräckligable to be broken
Cite this entry
APA

breakable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/breakable

MLA

“breakable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/breakable. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “breakable,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/breakable.

Source: breakable on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.