thermoplastic
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Being softening or fusing when heated and of hardening and becoming rigid again when cooled.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
thermuhplastikSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
θɚməpˈlæstɪk
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.
adjective
Having the property of softening or fusing when heated and of hardening and becoming rigid again when cooled
“Thermoplastic materials can be remelted and cooled time after time without undergoing any appreciable chemical change.”
Softening when heated and hardening when cooled, and thus able to be moulded, remelted, and remoulded.
noun
A plastic with this property.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Having the property of softening or fusing when heated and of hardening and becoming rigid again when cooled
Used this way, thermoplastic is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Thermoplastic materials can be remelted and cooled time after time without undergoing any appreciable chemical change.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use thermoplastic
- “Thermoplastic materials can be remelted and cooled time after time without undergoing any appreciable chemical change.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A material that softens when heated and hardens again when cooled.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: having the property of softening
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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.