acrylic
Americanadjective
noun
-
acrylics
plural
-
a paint, prepared especially for artists, in which an acrylic resin serves as a vehicle.
-
a painting done with this type of paint.
She sold several acrylics during the show.
adjective
noun
-
short for acrylic fibre acrylic resin
-
a paint or colour containing acrylic resin
-
An acrylic resin.
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A paint containing acrylic resin.
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An acrylic fiber.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of acrylic
First recorded in 1855–60; acr(olein) + -yl + -ic
Explanation
Acrylic is a kind of plastic, fabric, fiber, or paint that's made from acrylic acid. You might knit your mom an acrylic hat if she's allergic to wool. Anything made of acrylic is synthetic — it's not a natural substance or fiber, but was made in a lab or factory from artificial materials. Acrylic paint is a quick-drying, water-soluble kind of paint that artists often use instead of oil paint or watercolors. The original meaning of acrylic was "containing acryl," from acrolein, the sharp, bitter liquid in onions, rooted in the Latin words acer, "sharp," and olere, "to smell."
Vocabulary lists containing acrylic
Visual Arts - Introductory
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Visual Arts - High School
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Art History
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But her guitar was banned from the set - so she made the beat by strumming her acrylic nails together.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
One of his acrylic paintings, featuring two angels soaring above the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. monument, now anchors a larger body of work, “Los Angelitos.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Tommy, who used acrylic paint and a mixture of brushes and sponges to achieve different textures, said: 'I just wanted to make something colourful, plus feet are easier to draw than faces!
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
The Oak Harbor, Wash., company is working on a new line of sketchbooks with bleedproof paper and sets of acrylic markers and fine-line pens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
“You need your hair done. I say it’s about time you get a perm and some acrylic nails. Girl, we gonna have you looking good!”
From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles
Participants are provided with an art pack full of supplies like acrylics, pencils, watercolours and pastels with the condition that they create up to four pieces of artwork.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
However, cash flow from the surge in acrylics margins shouldn’t be used to continue a dividend policy that was devised during better times, Bray says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
The basic materials -- usually epoxies or acrylics -- come mostly from petrochemical feedstocks.
From Science Daily ● May 15, 2024
Supposedly, stain painting, where liquid acrylics are poured directly onto raw canvas, was art’s next logical step after Abstract Expressionism.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2023
I pack my best pencils and feel a horrible ache in my heart when I leave all my acrylics and brushes in the corner.
From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
