The major problems associated with zirconium diboride-based ceramics are lack of damage tolerance as structure components, so ZrB 2 /20vol% SiC based ceramics toughened by 20vol% short carbon fibers were produced by hot pressing at 2000°C under 30MPa for 1h. SEM results showed that short carbon fibers could disperse uniformly in powder mixtures and sintered sample through milling. Three-point bend strength and fracture toughness were measured. The decrease in strength from 448MPa to 397MPa as the addition of short fibers was attributed to the chemical reaction between fiber and matrix. The fracture toughness increased from 4.25MPam 1/2 for ZrB 2 /SiC to 6.35MPam 1/2 for short fibers toughened ZrB 2 /SiC, which was led by the crack deflection and fiber fracture.