plastic /ˈplæstɪk/noun 8adjective 10forms 3 noun8 •a material that people make from oil and use for bottles, bags and many other thingsThese endocrine disruptors are everywhere: plastics, shampoos, cosmetics, cushions, pesticides, canned foods and A.T.M. receipts. They often aren’t on labels and can be difficult to avoid. — 2021 •(informal) Credit or debit cards used in place of cash to buy goods and services.I knew the war between cash and credit cards was over and plastic had won, hands down, when even Mickey D's started taking credit and debit cards. •(slang, figurative) Insincerity; fakeness. •(slang, figurative) A person who is fake or arrogant, or believes that they are better than the rest of the population; a narcissistic, affected person.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. — 2004 •(slang) An instance of plastic surgery.Somebody's had a plastic done on his nose, I think, or else somebody bent it out of shape since I last saw it. — 1951 •(slang) Synonym of Plastic Paddy. •(no longer used) Any solid but malleable substance. •(no longer used) A sculptor, moulder. adjective10 •Made of plastic.A green plastic watering can / For a fake Chinese rubber plant / In a fake plastic earth / That she bought from a rubber man / In a town full of rubber plans / To get rid of itself — 1995 •(disapproving, figurative) Inferior or not the real thing.The Hippie has been replaced by the pseudo-Hippie, the plastic Hippie, the weekend Hippie — 1969 •(informal, figurative) Fake, insincere, especially in a shallow and conformist way pretending to smoothness and glossy flawlessness.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. — 1966 •Capable of being moulded; malleable, flexible, pliant.[A]nd it is highly probable that along with more splendid habits of life entered a more lavish use of the gorgeous stores laid open to the plastic powers of fiction. — 1828 •Capable of adapting to varying conditions; characterized by environmental adaptability. •Of or pertaining to the inelastic, non-brittle, deformation of a material. •(informal) Escaped from captivity, rather than wild.A superb — and apparently wild, not plastic — Baikal Teal was located at RSPB Greylake in Somerset[.] — 2024 •(informal) Introduced, rather than native or naturally vagrant.I was checking into my motel while a Red-whiskered Bulbul called outside – a Queensland plastic rarity which was somewhat amusing. — 2018 •(old-fashioned) Creative, formative.See plastic Nature working to this end. — 1733 •(no longer used) Producing tissue. formsplastics · more plastic · most plastic
