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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

Doctors say weight loss from GLP-1s—which can cause loose skin and all kinds of deflation—is driving cosmetic procedures, as is the growing discussion of plastic surgery on social media.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 7, 2026

He has reportedly had plastic surgery to change his appearance while on the run.

From BBC • Jan. 23, 2026

Messages from that trial reveal Marsalek has had plastic surgery to alter his appearance as well as details of his life as a fugitive.

From BBC • Jan. 21, 2026

How could my mom tell me I was pretty when she'd looked just like me and had gone through plastic surgery to change her face?

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

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.