spandex
noun
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Spandex is a fiber that has had an impact on fashion high and low, casual and formal, outer and under. It's not a trademark, as a number of the names of other fibers are, among them Dacron, Lycra, and Orlon. It's a generic term, coined in 1959 as an anagram of the word expands. Anagrammatic coinages are not common; the only other in our dictionaries that the average person is likely to be familiar with is sideburns. Sideburns is an anagram (and synonym) of burnsides, from Ambrose E. Burnside, a Union general in the American Civil War credited with originating the fashion (in the U.S., at least) also known as side-whiskers.
Examples of spandex in a Sentence
Bestreviews, The Mercury News, 6 Mar. 2025
Here’s how to treat a coffee mishap on synthetic fabrics like spandex and polyester.
—Hallie Milstein, Southern Living, 2 Mar. 2025
Cotton dominates all other fibers, as the next choices by consumers are polyester and silk—both at 3 percent—followed by wool (1 percent), linen (1 percent), Lycra or spandex (1 percent), and rayon (0 percent).
—Catherine Salfino, Sourcing Journal, 27 Feb. 2025
They’re made with a stretchy spandex and polyester material that one shopper said didn’t wrinkle in their suitcase, and can be dressed up or down.
—Rylee Johnston, Travel + Leisure, 27 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Spandex.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spandex. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.
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spandex
noun
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