plastics

Noun

plastic (countable and uncountable, plural plastics)

1. A synthetic, solid, hydrocarbon-based polymer, whether thermoplastic or thermosetting.
   • 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...2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845
2. (colloquial, metonymically) 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.
3. (figuratively, slang) Insincerity; fakeness.
4. (figuratively, slang) 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, Rosalind Wiseman, Tina Fey, Mean Girls
5. (countable, 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, Arnold Hano, The Big Out, page 146
6. (obsolete) A sculptor, moulder.

See all 18 meanings of plastic