elastic
Syllables: elas·tic/ɪˈlæstɪk//ə-/
elastic adjective: capable of stretching; particularly, capable of stretching so as to return to an original shape or size when force is released.
Adjective
elastic (comparative more elastic, superlative most elastic)
- Capable of stretching; particularly, capable of stretching so as to return to an original shape or size when force is released.
- The rope is somewhat elastic, so expect it to give when you pull on it.
- In trumpets for assisting the hearing, all reverbation of the trumpet must be avoided. It must be made thick, of the least elastic materials, and covered with cloth externally. For all reverbation lasts for a short time, and produces new sounds which mix with those which are coming in.1820, Encyclopaedia Britannica; Or A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, 6th edition, volume 20, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Company, page 501
- Made of elastic.
- elastic band
- Of clothing, elasticated.
- Sensitive to changes in price.
- Demand for entertainment is more elastic than demand for energy.
- springy; bouncy; vivacious
- He could see that she was tastefully, though not richly, dressed, and that she walked with an elastic step that revealed a light heart and the vigor of perfect health. Her face, of course, he could not analyze, since he had caught only the one brief but convincing glimpse of it.1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars
- Pervasive, all-encompassing.
- It was now about six o'clock, and that first freshness was on the air, which is to the day what youth is to life,—so light, so elastic, so sweet, and so brief:...1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter X, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 74
- Able to return quickly to a former state or condition, after being depressed or overtaxed; having power to recover easily from shocks and trials.
- elastic spirits; an elastic constitution
Noun
elastic (countable and uncountable, plural elastics)
- An elastic material used in clothing, particularly in waistbands and cuffs.
- running shorts use elastic to eliminate the need for a belt
- An elastic band.
- Specifically, a hair tie.
elastic meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
elastic in Hindi
- elastic
- लचीला lacīlā
elastic in Tamil
- மீள்மம், நீளும் தன்மையான, இழுபடக்கூடிய, எளிதாக மாறக்கூடிய, விரிசுரி
elastic in Urdu
- لچکدار
elastic in Bengali
- স্থিতিস্থাপক, নমনীয়
More languagesFewer languages
- elastic in Malayalam
- ഇലാസ്കിതയുള്ള, വലിയുന്ന, ആയമനീയ, വലിച്ചുനീട്ടാവുന്ന
- elastic in Kannada
- ಹಿಗ್ಗುವ ದಾರ, ಹಿಗ್ಗುಬಟ್ಟೆ, ಹಿಗ್ಗುಪಟ್ಟಿ, ದಾರ
- elastic in Sanskrit
- क्षिप्र kṣiprá
- elastic in Tagalog
- igkasin, manaynay
- elastic in Arabic
- مَرِن marin
- elastic in Malay
- kenyal, anyal, elastik
- elastic in Indonesian
- elastis
- elastic in Persian
- الاستیک, ارتجاعی, کشسان
- elastic in Thai
- ยืดหยุ่น yʉ̂ʉt-yùn
Examples of elastic in a sentence
- As the chest wall and lungs hyperinflate, they progressively resist further inflation by virtue of their elastic recoil characteristics.
- These phenomena may depend on the elastic properties of nuclear pasta found in the inner crust.
- The force–displacement curve of perfectly plastic contact partners does not show elastic restitution.
Synonyms of elastic
Antonyms
Forms of elastic
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more elastic |
| superlative | most elastic |
| alternative form (obsolete) | elastick |
| Noun | |
| plural | elastics |
Origin of elastic
From French élastique, from New Latin elasticus (“elastic”), from Ancient Greek ἐλαστός (elastós), alternative form of ἐλατός (elatós, “ductile”) (cf. ἐλατήρ (elatḗr, “a driver, hurler”)), from ἐλαύνω (elaúnō, “to drive, set in motion, push, strike, beat out”).
Words formed from elastic
- acoustoelastic
- aeroelastic
- aero-hydro-servo-elastic
- aero-servo-elastic
- aero-servo-hydro-elastic
- cytoelastic
- elastance
- elastane
- elastically
- elasticate
- elasticated
- elastic band
- elastic collision
- elastic deformation
- elastic energy
- elastic fiber
- elasticin
- elasticise
- elasticity
- elasticization
- elasticize
- elasticky
- elastic limit
- elasticness
- elastic recovery
- elastic-sided
- elastic sides
- elastic-sides
- elastin
- elasto-
- elastomer
- elastosis
- elastration
- ferroelastic
- fibroelastic
- fluid-elastic
- hydroelastic
- hyperelastic
- hypoelastic
- income-elastic
- isoelastic
- magnetelastic
- magnetoelastic
- magneto-electro-thermo-elastic
- magneto-thermo-electro-elastic
- mechanoelastic
- microelastic
- monoelastic
- morphoelastic
- musculo-elastic
- musculoelastic
- myoelastic
- perfectly elastic supply
- photoelastic
- piezoelastic
- piezomagnetoelastic
- poroelastic
- porohyperelastic
- poroviscoelastic
- pseudoelastic
Phrases with elastic
Words that rhyme with elastic
- plastic
- fantastic
- bombastic
- mastic
- spastic
- heteroplastic
- inelastic
- periphrastic
- pleonastic
- aclastic
- alloplastic
- anaclastic
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- anaplastic
- anticlastic
- aplastic
- autoplastic
- basiplastic
- ceroplastic
- chiastic
- clastic
- cosmoplastic
- drastic
- encomiastic
- enthusiastic
- epispastic
- gelastic
- gymnastic
- heteroblastic
- holophrastic
- homoblastic
- homoplastic
- macroplastic
- normoplastic
- onomastic
- paraphrastic
- sarcastic
- synclastic
- achondroplastic
- agelastic
- antineoplastic
- antiphrastic
- antispastic
- apicoplastic
- autoschediastic
- cataclastic
- chiliastic
- conplastic
- cranioplastic
- docimastic
- dramastic
- dynastic
- dysplastic
- ecclesiastic
- ectoblastic
- ectoplastic
- electroplastic
- emplastic
- epiblastic
- epinastic
- esemplastic
Questions about elastic
- What does elastic mean?
- Elastic means capable of stretching; particularly, capable of stretching so as to return to an original shape or size when force is released.
- What is elastic in Hindi?
- Elastic in Hindi is लचीला (lacīlā). See Elastic meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is elastic?
- Elastic can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce elastic?
- Elastic is pronounced /ɪˈlæstɪk/.
Words near elastic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: elastic (page history and authors); लचीला (Hindi) (page history and authors); elastic (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); elastic (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); elastic (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); elastic (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); elastic (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); क्षिप्र (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-elastic.ogg.
Cite this entry: “elastic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/elastic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.