Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

plastic surgery

American  

noun

  1. the branch of surgery dealing with the repair or replacement of malformed, injured, or lost organs or tissues of the body, chiefly by the transplant of living tissues.

plastic surgery British  

noun

  1. Also called: anaplasty.  the branch of surgery concerned with therapeutic or cosmetic repair or re-formation of missing, injured, or malformed tissues or parts

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
plastic surgery Scientific  

  1. The branch of surgery that deals with the remodeling, repair, or restoration of body parts, especially by the transfer of tissue.

plastic surgery Cultural  

  1. Surgery that repairs or reconstructs a body part. Plastic surgery is used to correct physical defects and to rebuild parts of the body that have been damaged by trauma or disease. Some examples of plastic surgery are breast reconstruction for women who have undergone a mastectomy and skin grafting for burn victims.

Other Word Forms

  • plastic surgeon noun

Etymology

Origin of plastic surgery

First recorded in 1830–40

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.

Plus, why doctors disagree about Alzheimer’s diagnoses and how winter became the season for plastic surgery.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026

The crash also left him with severe facial injuries which required him to undergo experimental plastic surgery.

From BBC • Jan. 3, 2026

When he first started his Manhattan oculofacial plastic surgery practice in 2007, Dr. Robert Schwarcz found that patients seeking a blepharoplasty tended to be in their 50s or older.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 1, 2026

He’s also animated to look as if he’s had extensive plastic surgery and he speaks with a strained voice, as if he can’t move his face.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2025

The way her old lady talks you’d think Lorraine needed internal plastic surgery and seventeen body braces, but if you ask me, all she needs is a little confidence.

From "The Pigman" by Paul Zindel

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.