💔 Easily broken 💥 Breaks on impact

frangible

1 9.8

Designed to break into small pieces on impact to reduce damage

adjective
/ˈfræn.dʒə.bəl/

Specialized

: frangible

For the training exercise, the team chose frangible bullets that disintegrate upon impact, ensuring safer use in urban areas.

Examples

The soldiers were instructed to use frangible ammunition to minimize the risk of injury to nearby civilians.
To reduce the chance of collateral damage, the police opted for frangible rounds that fragment into small pieces on contact.
Now that is sound engineering practice to, to work with a frangible piece just to make sure your marks are correct.

Synonyms

brittle

vsfrangible

31 3.9

Hard and likely to break

breaks into fragments on impact as a safety and containment feature

breakable

vsfrangible

5 1.3

Easy to damage or fall into pieces

is produced to fragment on impact to reduce penetration and ricochet

friable

vsfrangible

Specialized

2 8.9

Easily broken into small pieces or powder

is deliberately made to fragment on impact to limit penetration

shattery

vsfrangible

9.1

Breaks easily into small pieces

is engineered to fracture on impact to reduce ricochet and damage

fracturable

vsfrangible

Specialized

7.6

Breaks when pressure is applied

is designed to fragment on contact, not merely break under force

Antonyms

solid

325 1.0

Firm and hard so it keeps its shape, not liquid

indestructible

34 5.3

Very hard to break or damage

How Fragile

frangible

Specialized

1 9.8

breakable

5 1.3

Surface Forms

frangible positive

Morphology

frangible = fragile (transparent) = frag + ible

Although used in a technical context (ammunition designed to break), the meaning is transparently 'capable of breaking/fragmenting'.

Etymology

The word frangible comes from the Latin word frangere, 'to break', and when used for bullets, bolts, or parts it means they are made to break into small pieces on impact so they are less likely to go through or bounce off.