Plastic

From Latin plasticus ("of molding"), from Ancient Greek Ï€Î»Î±ÏƒÏ„Î¹ÎºÏŒÏ‚ (plastikos), from Ï€Î»Î¬ÏƒÏƒÎµÎ¹Î½ (plassein, "").

Full definition of plastic

(plural plastics)

2013-07-20, Welcome to the plastisphere, Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field. Dr Mincer and Dr Amaral-Zettler found evidence of them on their marine plastic, too.

Any similar synthetic material, not necessarily thermoplastic.
(colloquial) Credit or debit cards used in place of cash to buy goods and services.

Lily Allen, w, It's all about fast cars and cussing each other
but it doesn't matter cause I'm packing plastic
and that's what makes my life so fucking fantastic.

(slang) Fakeness, or a person who is fake or arrogant, or believes that they are better than the rest of the population.

2004, Rosalind Wiseman, Tina Fey, Mean Girls, Cady: You know I couldn't invite you. I had to pretend to be plastic.
Janis: Hey, buddy, you're not pretending anymore. You're plastic. Cold, shiny, hard plastic.
Emily Kapnek, Suburgatory'', Tessa: Pretty ironic that a box full of rubbers landed me to a town full of plastic.

1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 103:the rage ... betook itself at last to certain missile weapons; which, though from their plastic nature they threatened neither the loss of life or of limb, were, however, sufficiently dreadful to a well-dressed lady.
1898, Journal of Microscopy (page 256)Plastic mud, brownish tinted, rich in floatings.
2012, Adam Zeman, â€˜Only Connectâ€™, Literary Review, issue 399:while the broad pattern of connections between brain regions is similar in every healthy human brain, their details â€“ their number, size and strength â€“ are thought to underpin our individuality, as synapses are â€˜plasticâ€™, shaped by experience.

(biology) Capable of adapting to varying conditions; characterized by environmental adaptability. from 19th c.
Of or pertaining to the inelastic, non-brittle, deformation of a material. from 19th c.
Made of plastic. from 20th c.

1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter Foreword, A canister of flour from the kitchen had been thrown at the looking-glass and lay like trampled snow over the remains of a decent blue suit with the lining ripped out which lay on top of the ruin of a plastic wardrobe.

1969, Lowell D. Streiker, The gospel of irreligious religion, The Hippie has been replaced by the pseudo-Hippie, the plastic Hippie, the weekend Hippie
2007, Daniel Sinker, We owe you nothing: Punk Planet: the collected interviews, People always try to say that we're garage rock, but that scene is so plastic. Some dude in a band has tight jeans, dyed black hair, and a starving girlfriend with bangs, and people call it indie rock. It's so gross.
2008, Matt James Mason, The pirate's dilemma: how youth culture is reinventing capitalism, Frustrated by a globalized music industry force-feeding them plastic pop music, hackers, remixers, and activists began to mobilize...

1966, Calvin C. Hernton, White papers for white Americansâ€Ž, He kissed the white woman once, and it was so artificial, so plastic (that's the word, plastic) that one wondered why did they bother at all.
1973, Eric Berne, What do you say after you say hello?, In fact it seems as though there are two kinds of people in the world: real people and plastic people, as the Flower Children used to say.
2004, w:Rosalind Wiseman, w, Janis: See? That's the thing with you plastics. You think everybody is in love with you when actually, everybody HATES you!
2006, Catherine Coulter, Born to Be Wildâ€Ž, But I don't think she would be happy in Los Angeles â€” it's so plastic and cheap and they expect the women to be whores to get anywhere.
2009, w:Lady Gaga, w, We're plastic but we'll still have fun!