plasticity
Americannoun
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the quality or state of being plastic.
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the capability of being molded, receiving shape, or being made to assume a desired form.
the plasticity of social institutions; the great plasticity of clay.
noun
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the quality of being plastic or able to be moulded
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(in pictorial art) the quality of depicting space and form so that they appear three-dimensional
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of plasticity
Explanation
Plasticity means "changeability" or "moldability" — clay has a lot of plasticity, but a rock has almost none. It helps to think of plastic when learning what plasticity means. See how plastic can be molded into all sorts of things, and even when it's in a totally solid form, it's not hard like stone? Plasticity refers to things that can still change their shape or function. The brain is something with high plasticity: if you have a brain injury, other parts of the brain can change to pick up the slack. Anything that is capable of evolving or being reshaped has plasticity.
Vocabulary lists containing plasticity
Challenge, List 11
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 2
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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.
Even more interesting, the brain became better at recognizing them over time, suggesting that learning or neural plasticity was still taking place during anesthesia.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 29, 2026
The researchers also found that caffeine administered before sleep deprivation restored synaptic communication in the CA2 region and returned plasticity to normal levels.
From Science Daily ● May 30, 2026
The connection caught researchers' attention because other studies have linked declining D-serine levels with aging-related cognitive impairment and reduced synaptic plasticity, the brain's ability to strengthen neural connections involved in memory and learning.
From Science Daily ● May 24, 2026
Previously, scientists believed gene therapies for hearing loss had to be administered in the first few years of life before the window closed on brain plasticity, said Jonathon Whitton, Regeneron’s lead researcher on this drug.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
But ah, the exposure indeed, the helpless plasticity of childhood that isn't dear or sacred to somebody!
From The Letters of Henry James (volume I) by James, Henry
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.
