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elastic

adjective · noun

Simple meaning

Capable of resuming original shape after stretching or compression.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihlastik

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪˈlæstɪk

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Capable of resuming original shape after stretching or compression; springy

  2. Capable of stretching; particularly, capable of stretching so as to return to an original shape or size when force is released.

  3. Made of elastic.

  4. Able to return quickly to a former state or condition, after being depressed or overtaxed; having power to recover easily from shocks and trials.

  5. Springy; bouncy; vivacious

  6. Pervasive, all-encompassing.

noun

  1. uncountable

    An elastic material used in clothing, particularly in waistbands and cuffs.

  2. Canadacountable

    A narrow band of elastic rubber used to hold things (such as papers) together

  3. Canadacountable

    A fabric made of yarns containing an elastic material

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Capable of resuming original shape after stretching or compression; springy

Used this way, elastic is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • stretchy , rarer, so it draws attention
  • elasticized , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use elastic

  • “The elastic waistband on these pants is very comfortable.”

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Able

elastic tissue

Narrow

elastic band

Other combinations

elastic limitelastic moduluselastic scatteringelastic energyperfectly elasticless elastic

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • tensile

    Capable of being stretched.

  • flexible

    Capable of being changed.

  • adaptable

    Capable of adapting or of being adapted.

  • resilient

    Returning quickly to original shape after force is applied.

  • tractile

    Capable of being drawn or stretched out in length.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • elastic modulusnounCompound term

    The ratio of the applied stress to the change in shape of an elastic body.

  • elastic potential energynounCompound term

    Potential energy that is stored when a body is deformed (as in a coiled spring).

  • elastic tissuenounCompound term

    Connective tissue consisting chiefly of elastic fibers found in the dermis of the skin and in the walls of veins and arteries and in some tendons and ligaments.

  • elastic bandnounCompound term

    A narrow band of elastic rubber used to hold things (such as papers) together.

  • elastic bandagenounCompound term

    A bandage containing stretchable material that can apply local pressure.

  • elastic devicenounCompound term

    Any flexible device that will return to its original shape when stretched.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • elastomernounRelated term

    Any of various elastic materials that resemble rubber (resumes its original shape when a deforming force is removed).

  • coefficient of elasticitynounRelated term

    The ratio of the applied stress to the change in shape of an elastic body.

  • modulus of elasticitynounRelated term

    The ratio of the applied stress to the change in shape of an elastic body.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

adjective

Sense: capable of resuming original shape after stretching or compression

resilientstretchyRareelasticizedRareviscoelastic

noun

Sense: elastic material used in clothing

rubber band

Antonyms

Sense: capable of resuming original shape after stretching or compression

inelastic

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.