Breakable Meaning
/ˈbɹeɪkəbəl/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjAble to break or be broken.
adjFragile.
Sentence Examples
Glass is a transparent and easily breakable material.
These ceramics are highly breakable.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The movers carefully packed each ____ item in bubble wrap to avoid damage.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The box was marked as ____ to ensure the movers handled it with care.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg-der. Proto-Germanic *brekaną Proto-West Germanic *brekan Old English brecan Middle English breken English break Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English breakable From break + -able.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"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:
"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:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The movers carefully packed each ____ item in bubble wrap to avoid damage.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The box was marked as ____ to ensure the movers handled it with care.