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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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.
Plasticity of notation entails plasticity of meaning, and many of his aberrations are revealing: the funny-sad replacement of “hole life” for “whole life” in one story, or the phrase “post-NATO depression.”
From Washington Post • May 18, 2020
"Humour creates a flattening of relationships in a hierarchal company," says Jennifer Moss, co-founder of Toronto's Plasticity Labs, which conducts research on emotional intelligence and happiness for businesses.
From BBC • Jul. 5, 2017
Plasticity A comatose man slowly regains consciousness in this new multimedia-enhanced, multi-character solo drama that explores the human brain’s ability to repair itself.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 19, 2017
Plasticity is the concept that your brain is not hardwired—it's plastic.
From Golf Digest • Sep. 22, 2016
I will not believe it haunted but prepare to delve into the Plasticity of Sound.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
