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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

plastic.

A synthetic, solid, hydrocarbon-based polymer, whether thermoplastic or thermosetting.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈplæstɪk/UK[ˈpʰlastɪk]UK/ˈplæstɪk/US[ˈpʰlæstɪk]US
  1. A synthetic, solid, hydrocarbon-based polymer, whether thermoplastic or thermosetting.

    countable · uncountable
  2. Credit or debit cards used in place of cash to buy goods and services.

    colloquial · countable · metonymically · uncountable
    I knew the war between cash and credit cards was over and plastic had won, hands down, when even Mickey D's started taking credit and debit cards.
  3. Insincerity; fakeness.

    countable · figuratively · slang · uncountable
  4. A person who is fake or arrogant, or believes that they are better than the rest of the population; a narcissistic, affected person.

    countable · figuratively · slang · uncountable
  5. An instance of plastic surgery.

    countable · slang
  6. A sculptor, moulder.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  7. Any solid but malleable substance.

    archaic · countable · uncountable
  8. Synonym of Plastic Paddy.

    countable · slang · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Latin plasticus (“of molding”), from Ancient Greek πλαστικός (plastikós), from πλάσσω (plássō, “to mold, form”). Doublet of plastique.

adj/ˈplæstɪk/UK[ˈpʰlastɪk]UK/ˈplæstɪk/US[ˈpʰlæstɪk]US
  1. Capable of being moulded; malleable, flexible, pliant.

  2. Producing tissue.

    archaic
  3. Creative, formative.

    dated
  4. Capable of adapting to varying conditions; characterized by environmental adaptability.

  5. Of or pertaining to the inelastic, non-brittle, deformation of a material.

  6. Made of plastic.

  7. Inferior or not the real thing.

    derogatory · figuratively
  8. Fake, insincere, especially in a shallow and conformist way pretending to smoothness and glossy flawlessness.

    figuratively · informal
  9. Escaped from captivity, rather than wild.

    informal
  10. Introduced, rather than native or naturally vagrant.

    informal
Where this word comes from

From Latin plasticus (“of molding”), from Ancient Greek πλαστικός (plastikós), from πλάσσω (plássō, “to mold, form”). Doublet of plastique.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.