plastic
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
Credit or debit cards used in place of cash to buy goods and services.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
plastikSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈplæstɪk
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
colloquialmetonymic
Credit or debit cards used in place of cash to buy goods and services.
A synthetic, solid, hydrocarbon-based polymer, whether thermoplastic or thermosetting.
figurativeslang
Insincerity; fakeness; a person who is fake or arrogant, or believes that they are better than the rest of the population; a narcissistic, affected person.
adjective
Capable of being moulded; malleable, flexible, pliant.
figurativeinformalof a person
Fake, insincere, especially in a shallow and conformist way pretending to smoothness and glossy flawlessness.
Of or pertaining to the inelastic, non-brittle, deformation of a material.
Made of plastic.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (colloquial, metonymic) Credit or debit cards used in place of cash to buy goods and services.
Used this way, plastic is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in everyday conversation and social media or informal writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Casual
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Playful
- Usage feel
- Casual and conversational
Where it naturally appears
- Everyday conversation
- Social media/informal writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use plastic
- “Many toys are made from plastic, which is a lightweight and durable material.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A mixture of lime or gypsum with sand and water.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A bag made of thin plastic material.
A bomb made of plastic explosive.
An explosive material that is easily molded around the object it is intended to destroy.
A thin sheet of (usually plastic and usually transparent) material used to wrap or cover things.
A laminate made by bonding plastic layers.
A surgeon who beautifies the body (especially the face).
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: capable of being moulded
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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.