teflon
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
A brand name of polytetrafluoroethylene products, latterly applied to other fluoropolymer products.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
tehfluhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtɛflən
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
A brand name of polytetrafluoroethylene ("PTFE") products, latterly applied to other fluoropolymer products.
Multiple film, resin, coatings, fabric and surface protectors made with PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) or fluoropolymer and surfactants not made with PTFE.
adjective
figuratively
Non-stick, slick.
informalof a person
Having an undamageable reputation (by analogy with nonstick Teflon surfaces).
figurativelyof a person
Able to easily shrug off or deflect criticism or blame.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A brand name of polytetrafluoroethylene ("PTFE") products, latterly applied to other fluoropolymer products.
Used this way, teflon 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
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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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.