kryptonite

English

Etymology

From a fictional radioactive element, kryptonite, that has a detrimental effect on the otherwise invulnerable character Superman. Apparently formed as krypton (“a chemical element, Kr”) +‎ -ite.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɪptənaɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

kryptonite (usually uncountable, plural kryptonites)

1. (figuratively) The one weakness of something or someone that is otherwise invulnerable.

   Synonyms: Achilles heel, weakness; see also Thesaurus:weak spot

   • 1991 October 25, Bryan Miller, “Restaurants: John Clancy's”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 12 February 2021:

     The terrific seven-grain bread here is the kryptonite of restaurant reviewers: two mini-loaves and you are incapacitated.

   • 2006 March 25, Jonathan Leggett, “Cult musicians”, in The Guardian‎, archived from the original on 26 February 2025:

     So while recording or sampling a Charlie Manson track […] makes for shock rock kudos aplenty, a devotion to Hubbard is kryptonite for credibility.

   • 2016, Marlon Orlando Cole, Orphans: Nature's Beloved, page 93:

     We all have our own kryptonite or kryptonites, so don't tempt yourself by listening to so-called friends who are just demonic tools being used to bring you under.

   • 2025 May 24, “OnlyFans has a shot at ditching its NSFW image”, in FT Weekend, Lex., page 20:

     But of course porn is kryptonite to many investors.

2. (slang) Crack cocaine.

Translations

weakness

Catalan: kriptonita Chinese: Mandarin: 克星 (zh) (kèxīng) Danish: kryptonit Dutch: kryptoniet Esperanto: kriptonito Finnish: kryptoniitti (fi) French: kryptonite (fr) Georgian: კრიპტონიტი (ḳriṗṭoniṭi) German: Kryptonit (de), Achillesferse (de) f, wunder Punkt m, Schwachstelle (de) f Greek: κρυπτονίτης m (kryptonítis) Italian: kryptonite Japanese: クリプトナイト (kuriputonaito) Marathi: क्रिप्टोनाइट (kripṭonāiṭ) Portuguese: kryptonita Romanian: kriptonită (ro) Russian: криптони́т m (kriptonít) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: криптонит m Roman: kriptonit m Slovak: kryptonit Spanish: kryptonita, criptonita (es) f Swedish: kryptonit (sv)

Verb

kryptonite (third-person singular simple present kryptonites, present participle kryptoniting, simple past and past participle kryptonited)

1. To expose to, or attack with, kryptonite.
   • 1998, Phillip Gwynne, Deadly Unna?, Melbourne: Penguin, page 173:

     And even those two were pretty puny, like Superman after he had been kryptonited.

2. (figuratively) To destroy, wreck, or ruin; to affect adversely, as Superman is affected by kryptonite.

Further reading

• kryptonite on Wikipedia.Wikipedia