Word.ws English Dictionary

teflon

/ˈtɛflɒn/

teflon noun: synonym of polytetrafluoroethylene, PTFE.

Noun (1)

teflon (uncountable)

  1. Synonym of polytetrafluoroethylene, PTFE.
    • ...tweeting in defiance at all those horrendous scandals that were meant to destroy his campaign. He made teflon look sticky.2016 September 11, James Eagle, Donald Trump: Why is the world so surprised?, retrieved 30 Oct 2017

Adjective (1)

teflon (comparative more teflon, superlative most teflon)

  1. (figuratively) Non-stick, slick.
  2. (figuratively) Able to easily shrug off or deflect criticism or blame.
    • the teflon Prime Minister

Proper noun capitalized: Teflon

Teflon

  1. A brand name of polytetrafluoroethylene (“PTFE”) products, latterly applied to other fluoropolymer products.

Noun (2) capitalized: Teflon

Teflon (countable and uncountable, plural Teflons)

  1. Multiple film, resin, coatings, fabric and surface protectors made with PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) or fluoropolymer and surfactants not made with PTFE.
    • ...tweeting in defiance at all those horrendous scandals that were meant to destroy his campaign. He made teflon look sticky.2016 November 9, James Eagle, Donald Trump: Why is the world so surprised?, retrieved 30 Oct 2017
    • Look at that there fool playing dirty tricks
      He must be made of Teflon 'cause nothing ever sticks
      Dancing 'round the room while farting in the breeze
      Friends huff it down like it's American cheese2022, “Follow the Fool”, performed by Primus
  2. Synonym of polytetrafluoroethylene (“PTFE”).

Adjective (2) capitalized: Teflon

Teflon (not comparable)

  1. (informal) Having an undamageable reputation (by analogy with nonstick Teflon surfaces).
    • a Teflon image
    • But Ronald Reagan, by everybody's definition, was the Teflon president, and it wasn't that the media tried to touch him and failed.1995, Liz Cunningham, Talking Politics: Choosing the President in the Television Age

teflon meaning in Tamil

teflon in Tamil

டெஃப்ளான், வினைவிப்படியம்

Synonyms of teflon

Forms of teflon

Adjective
comparativemore teflon
superlativemost teflon
Noun
pluralTeflons
alternative formteflon

Origin of teflon

Genericization of trademark Teflon.

Trade name, 1940s. From the first letters of tetra- (“four”) + fluoro- (“fluorine”) + -on modeled after nylon etc. From the fluorine count of polytetrafluoroethylene.

Words formed from teflon

Questions about teflon

What does teflon mean?
Teflon means synonym of polytetrafluoroethylene, PTFE.
What is teflon in Tamil?
Teflon in Tamil is டெஃப்ளான், வினைவிப்படியம். See Teflon meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is teflon?
Teflon can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce teflon?
Teflon is pronounced /ˈtɛflɒn/.
What is the plural of teflon?
The plural of teflon is Teflons.

Words near teflon in the dictionary

  1. tefilloth
  2. TEFL
  3. TEFLer
  4. TEFLers
  5. Teflis
  6. teflon
  7. Teflon Don
  8. teflon flu
  9. teflonish
  10. teflubenzuron
  11. teflurane

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: teflon (page history and authors); Teflon (page history and authors); teflon (Tamil Wiktionary) (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.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “teflon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/teflon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.