microplastic

noun

mi·​cro·​plas·​tic ˌmī-krō-ˈpla-stik 

plural microplastics

1

: a very small piece of plastic especially when occurring as an environmental pollutant

—usually used in plural

… the microplastics that have made their way into the food chain and even the air we breathe.

—Los Angeles Times

… the Mariana Trench contains the highest levels of microplastics (most likely from clothing, bottles, packaging and fishing gear) yet found in the open ocean, offering irrefutable proof that plastics have penetrated even the most remote places on the planet.

—Rina Li

specifically : a piece of plastic that is five millimeters or smaller in size

Indeed, a handful of sand or cup of seawater from nearly anywhere in the world will probably be peppered with microplastics—pieces that are tinier than a small pea and often invisible.

—Jennifer Ackerman

2

: material consisting of microplastics

Most of that microplastic is coming not from broken down plastic soda bottles or shopping bags but textiles and clothing made of synthetic materials like polyester.

—Dharna Noor

compare nanoplastic

microplastic adjective

microplastic pollution

microplastic debris

Examples of microplastic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Then the next, of course, is the problem with microplastics, et cetera, getting to every part of our body and especially our heart arteries and our brain, and implicated in conditions like heart attacks, strokes, and higher risk of dementia. —Dana Taylor, USA Today, 8 May 2025

More studies will have to determine just how damaging microplastics truly are to fertility. —Melissa Willets, Parents, 24 Apr. 2025

The Always Pan is their viral do-it-all pan, capable of sautéing, frying, and baking—all without microplastics or teflon residue. —Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 27 Mar. 2025

Experts call for more research before parents panic—and offer ways to reduce exposure to microplastics in the meantime. —Melissa Willets, Parents, 24 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1990, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for microplastic

• anaplastic
• bioclastic
• fibroblastic
• hyperplastic
• hypoplastic
• inelastic
• lymphoblastic
• neoplastic
• orgiastic
• periphrastic
• predynastic
• pyroclastic