These are collocations we use when talking about materials and the quality of the products made from those materials. Do they break easily or are they long-lasting? How easily do they break? These are adjectives that describe either the quality of materials and goods we buy or what happens to those materials if they are faulty or defective. Try to complete the words first from the letters below. Then check your answers and a description of the word at the bottom of the page.
1) CRACKED (eg. porcelain, ceramics - breaks or fissures in a dinner plate for, example - but not in pieces)
2) CHIPPED (any hard material - small pieces broken off - a porcelain cup, for example)
3) FLAWED (any material or even software too - really means there is something wrong with the product or material = defective)
4) SCRATCHED (usually a hard material - small lines or marks in the surface eg. a CD)
5) FLIMSY (very weak and easily broken off or torn - a thin clothes material so not practical for wearing or a part of a product which is not held firmly eg. a car wing mirror)
6) SHODDY (usually the product - badly made so will break or tear easily)
7) DURABLE (any material or product, long-lasting)
8) BRITTLE (always a hard material eg. glass - easily breaks into small pieces)
9) HEAVY-DUTY (any material or product - large and able to take high loads and extensive use - eg. canvas (materia) or a large lorry battery.
10) TOUGH (= DURABLE - see above - any material or product but also for meat where it's too hard to eat so it's a negative word here)
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