nylon
noun
Simple meaning
Originally, the DuPont company trade name for polyamide, a copolymer whose molecules consist of alternating diamine and dicarboxylic acid monomers bonded together.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
nylahnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈnaɪlɑn
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Originally, the DuPont company trade name for polyamide, a copolymer whose molecules consist of alternating diamine and dicarboxylic acid monomers bonded together; now generically used for this type of polymer.
in the plural
A stocking originally fabricated from nylon; also used generically for any long, sheer stocking worn on a woman's legs.
A thermoplastic polyamide; a family of strong resilient synthetic fibers
perjorativelyby comparison to silk
A Queen's Counsel, King's Counsel or Senior Counsel who was appointed as a courtesy, rather than on merit.
often attributively
New York-London, a reference to transatlantic life, people who spend time in both cities, or a transatlantic culture featuring both cities.
Alternative letter-case form of NYLON.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Originally, the DuPont company trade name for polyamide, a copolymer whose molecules consist of alternating diamine and dicarboxylic acid monomers bonded together; now generically used for this type of polymer.
Used this way, nylon is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in business or professional contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Business/professional
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use nylon
- “The strong rope was made of durable nylon material.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Women's stockings made from a sheer material (nylon or rayon or silk).
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Women's stockings made from a sheer material (nylon or rayon or silk).
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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.