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
- nonplasticity noun
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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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocabulary for May 27–June 2, 2023
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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.
In highlighting the plasticity of bacterial domains, the study advances fundamental knowledge of how gene transfer occurs between bacterial cells and offers an important clue to understanding how AMR occurs.
From Science Daily • Apr. 17, 2026
Together they make up a perfectly valid alternate list, one that captures the glamour and romance of L.A. — as well as its lovable plasticity — just as well.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 13, 2026
The plasticity of digital information is superseding earlier modes of expression and expertise, as the printing press did the scribe.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025
Hebbian-style synaptic plasticity allows for creation of memories and learning from experience within a network of neurons and synapses.
From Salon • Apr. 25, 2025
By the high pressures, or stresses given by the hydraulic press it was learned that cold metals have plasticity and can be moulded or stretched like other plastic bodies.
From Inventions in the Century by Doolittle, William 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.
