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   plastic

   /ˈplastɪk/

   noun

   • 1. a synthetic material made from a wide range of organic polymers such as polyethylene, PVC, nylon, etc., that can be moulded into shape while soft, and then set into a rigid or slightly elastic form: "mains pipes should be made of plastic or copper"
   • ▪ credit cards or other types of plastic card that can be used as money: "he pays with cash instead of with plastic"

   adjective

   • 1. made of plastic: "plastic bottles"
   • ▪ not genuine; artificial or unnatural: "a holiday rep with huge white teeth and a plastic smile" Similar artificialfalsesyntheticfakesuperficialpseudoshambogusersatzassumedspuriousspeciousunnaturalinsincereinformal:phoneypretendOpposite genuine
   • 2. (of a substance or material) easily shaped or moulded: "rendering the material more plastic" Similar malleablemouldableshapablepliablepliantductileflexiblesoftworkablesupplebendableinformal:bendyrare:fictileOpposite rigid
   • ▪ offering scope for creativity: "the writer is drawn to words as a plastic medium"
   • ▪ exhibiting adaptability to change or variety in the environment.
   • ▪ relating to moulding or modelling in three dimensions, or to produce three-dimensional effects: "the plastic arts"
   • ▪ (in science and technology) relating to the permanent deformation of a solid without fracture by the temporary application of force.

   Word Origin late 16th century (in the sense ‘art of modelling’): partly via Italian plastica (noun), from Latin plasticus from Greek plastikos, from plassein ‘to mould’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. plastically adverb

   Scrabble Points: 11

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