All words

fragile

Meaning

Susceptible to being damaged or shattered by slight physical force; lacking in robustness.

Examples by difficulty

Basic: Simple, everyday vocabulary — the easiest to read.

He held the old glass bird with such care. Its wings were so thin, so light. He knew if he squeezed too hard, or if it slipped, it would break into pieces. It felt terribly fragile in his hands.

The old ceramic doll, with its painted smile and chipped cheek, felt so fragile in my hands. A tiny crack ran across its forehead, a reminder that a little too much pressure could easily shatter the whole thing. I held it carefully, afraid to even breathe too hard.

The glass bird, a gift from my grandmother, sat on the windowsill. Its wings, impossibly thin, seemed ready to break with the slightest touch. I held my breath, careful not to bump the table, afraid the whole thing would shatter. It was so beautiful, but so fragile.

My pet goldfish, Bartholomew, was notoriously fragile. One wrong bump and he'd be a golden, sparkly puddle on the rug. I learned this the hard way when my cat, Mittens, decided Bartholomew's bowl made a great footrest during a nap. Poor Bartholomew.

My prized pet rock, Bartholomew, has always been rather fragile. One day, a rogue sneeze sent him tumbling, and alas, he shattered into dust. Bartholomew clearly lacked robustness and was easily damaged by the slightest physical force. A very sad day for pet rock owners everywhere.

Normal: Standard, everyday language.

She held the antique teacup with such care, its porcelain so thin. A tiny chip already marred the rim, a stark reminder of how fragile it was. One wrong move, a moment of carelessness, and it would shatter into a thousand pieces.

The ancient, hand-painted porcelain shard felt impossibly light. One clumsy move, a slight tremor from the passing train outside, and the delicate patterns, painstakingly applied centuries ago, could easily be damaged, shattering the millennia of history it represented. It was so fragile.

The craftsman’s hands, calloused from years of working metal, moved with extreme care. He knew the intricate glass wings of the automaton were exceptionally fragile. One wrong touch, a sudden bump, and the delicate filigree would shatter, rendering his hours of painstaking work useless.

My attempts at baking are so famously bad, my cookies are practically a scientific marvel. They look like edible rocks, yet the moment someone dares to gently tap one, it shatters into a thousand fragile crumbs, a testament to their extreme susceptibility to even the slightest force.

My prize-winning display of meticulously stacked, antique teacups proved alarmingly fragile. A rogue sneeze from my Uncle Barry, who’d just inhaled a whole jar of pickled onions, sent the whole precarious tower tumbling. Apparently, even the slightest puff of onion-laden air can shatter delicate porcelain.

Advanced: Richer vocabulary that stretches an upper-level reader.

Her smile was fragile, a thin layer over deep sadness. A careless word could shatter it, revealing the pain beneath. She guarded it carefully, afraid of the slightest touch that might break her carefully constructed peace.

The antique glass orb, shimmering with internal nebula, felt so utterly fragile in Elias's trembling hands. He knew a single drop onto the polished obsidian floor would shatter its delicate structure, a consequence he couldn't bear, a delicate beauty easily broken.

The antique glass orb, rumored to contain trapped starlight, felt impossibly fragile in my hands. One wrong movement, one sudden jolt, and the years of lore, the delicate beauty, could shatter into dust. It needed the utmost care.

My grandma's prize-winning porcelain poodle collection was famously fragile. One rogue sneeze during a dust-bunny invasion sent a chihuahua shattering into what looked like confetti. Turns out, even the most elaborate ceramic hounds were susceptible to damage by slight physical force.

Barnaby's meticulously constructed tower of artisanal cheese sculptures was fragile, a precarious arrangement of Gouda gargoyles and Brie griffins. A misplaced sneeze or a particularly enthusiastic sigh from a passing pigeon threatened the entire edifice with utter disintegration, leaving only a dairy-based shrapnel field.

Challenging: Rare, high-register vocabulary for serious word lovers.

He clutched the delicate glass figurine, its artistry exquisite but its structure undeniably fragile. A sudden jolt, a careless bump against the table's edge, and he knew its intricate form would shatter, its beauty irrecoverably lost to even the slightest misstep.

The delicate filament, a mere wisp of spun lunar silk, was incredibly fragile. She’d spent weeks painstakingly weaving it, the slightest tremor threatening to shatter months of meticulous labor into dust. One careless touch, and all that intricate effort would be irrevocably lost.

The holographic replica of the celestial nebula, a stunning accretion of simulated cosmic dust and light, proved exceptionally fragile. A careless gesture, an errant tremor from the nearby ion thruster calibration, and the entire ethereal edifice would undoubtedly shatter, its simulated starlight extinguished.

Barnaby, a man whose epidermis possessed the surprising resilience of a well-aged parmesan rind, was notoriously susceptible to being damaged by slight physical force. A gentle pat on the shoulder could elicit an inordinate yelp, and the mere whisper of a sneeze threatened to shatter his composure. His constitution was, in short, remarkably lacking in robustness.

Barnaby's meticulously constructed diorama of a sentient marmot uprising was undeniably *fragile*. A single misplaced sneeze from his Aunt Mildred, a woman whose nasal expulsions could dislodge tectonic plates, threatened to shatter the delicate balance of his tiny rodent rebels, reducing their epochal struggle to a chaotic confection of glitter and despair.

Difficulty

Basic — Common words most learners already know.

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