Select the most appropriate synonym of the given word. Brittle

Correct — C. Brittle describes something hard that snaps instead of bending — a dry twig, old plastic, a sheet of glass.

Fragile means easily broken or damaged. That is the same core sense, so it is the nearest of the four.

The two are not perfect twins: brittle adds the idea of hardness, and fragile covers delicate things that are not hard at all. A synonym item asks for the closest word available, not an identical one → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Furtive — Furtive means done secretly, so as to escape notice — a furtive glance at a phone. It shares nothing with breaking easily except the first letter.
• (b)
  Fatal — Fatal means causing death or ruin. A brittle thing breaks; it does not kill, and the two words overlap only in sounding bad.
• (d)
  Fickle — Fickle means changing often, especially in loyalty or affection. It describes people and moods, not materials that snap.

A one-word synonym item asks for the nearest available word, not a dictionary twin. You are choosing among four, so the test is comparative.

Brittle describes a material that is hard and breaks cleanly under stress rather than bending — glass, dry bone, old plastic, a biscuit. It also runs figuratively, of a brittle laugh or a brittle temper, where the idea is a hardness that could crack at any moment.

Fragile is the wider word: easily broken or damaged, whether the thing is hard or delicate. A brittle thing is always fragile, and that containment is what makes it the closest of the four.

Key facts

• Brittle means hard but liable to break or shatter rather than bend.
• Fragile means easily broken or damaged.
• Furtive means done secretly, to avoid being noticed.
• Fickle means changing often, especially in loyalty or affection.

Common traps

• Rejecting Fragile because brittle also implies hardness, when the item wants the nearest word rather than an identical one.
• Picking Fatal on a shared sense of something going badly wrong.
• Choosing on the initial letter, which every option here carries.

No directly related past PYQ was found.