Meanings
nounpolystyrene (plural polystyrenes)
plural polystyrenes
- chemistryA vinylic polymer of styrene, CH₂CHphenyl.
It was 30 times lighter and more flexible than the polystyrene that had previously been used.
1996 February 4, Julia Campbell, “Ray McIntire, 77, Dow Engineer And the Inventor Of Styrofoam”, in The New York Times1 more example
Gerri (Gemma Arterton): Well, he might not be begging. He might be waiting for somebody. / Tom: Of course he's begging. He's got a polystyrene cup in front of him.
2014, “Tom & Gerri” (1:14 from the start), in Inside No. 9, season 1, episode 3, spoken by Tom (Reece Shearsmith)
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
Also see
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*pleh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*polh₁ús
- Ancient Greekπολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)
- Englishpoly-
- Ancient Greekστύραξ (stúrax)
- Latinstyrax
- Englishstyrene
- Englishpolystyrene
Translations
Catalan poliestirè
- poliestirèpolymer
Chinese Mandarin 聚苯乙烯
- 聚苯乙烯 (jùběnyǐxī)polymer
Czech polystyren
- polystyrenpolymer
French polystyrène
- polystyrènepolymer
Greek πολυστερίνη
- πολυστερίνη (polysteríni)polymer
Hungarian polisztirol
- polisztirolpolymer
Icelandic pólýstýren
- pólýstýrenpolymer
Italian polistirene
- polistirenepolymer
Japanese ポリスチレン
- ポリスチレンpolymer
Malay ڤوليستيرينا, polistirena
- ڤوليستيريناpolymer
- polistirenapolymer
Portuguese poliestireno
- poliestirenopolymer
Russian полистиро́л
- полистиро́л (polistiról)polymer
Spanish poliestireno
- poliestirenopolymer
Swedish polystyren
- polystyrenpolymer
Yiddish פּאָליסטירען
- פּאָליסטירען (polistiren)polymer
Cite this entry
APA
polystyrene. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polystyrene
MLA
“polystyrene.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polystyrene. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “polystyrene,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polystyrene.
Source: polystyrene on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.