Meanings
plural styrenes
- chemistryAn aromatic hydrocarbon; a colourless, oily liquid, used in the manufacture of polymers such as polystyrene.
He combined styrene with isobutylene, a volatile liquid, under pressure.
1996 April 2, Julia Campbell, “Ray McIntire, 77, Dow Engineer And the Inventor Of Styrofoam”, in The New York TimesSynonyms: monovinylbenzene, styrene oxide, VB, vinylbenzene
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn aromatic hydrocarbon; a colourless, oily liquid, used in the manufacture of polymers such as polystyrene.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna colorless oily liquid; the monomer for polystyrene
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekστύραξ (stúrax)
- Latinstyrax
- Englishstyrene
From Latin styrax (or storax) + -ene.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan estirè, vinilbenzè
- estirèhydrocarbon
- vinilbenzèhydrocarbon
Chinese Mandarin 苯乙烯
- 苯乙烯 (běnyǐxī)hydrocarbon
Czech styren
- styrenhydrocarbon
Finnish styreeni
- styreenihydrocarbon
French styrène, styrolène
- styrènehydrocarbon
- styrolènehydrocarbon
Japanese スチレン
- スチレン (suchiren)hydrocarbon
Swedish styren
- styrenhydrocarbon
Turkish stiren
- stirenhydrocarbon
Yiddish סטיראָל
- סטיראָל (stirol)hydrocarbon
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
styrene. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/styrene
“styrene.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/styrene. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “styrene,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/styrene.
Source: styrene on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.