plasticity

/plæˈstɪsədi/

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.

Definitions of plasticity

1. noun

   the property of being physically malleable; the property of something that can be worked or hammered or shaped without breaking
   synonyms: malleability

   types:

   ductileness, ductility

   the malleability of something that can be drawn into threads or wires or hammered into thin sheets

   flexibility, flexibleness

   the property of being flexible; easily bent or shaped

   bendability, pliability

   the property of being easily bent without breaking

   whip

   (golf) the flexibility of the shaft of a golf club

   type of:

   physical property

   any property used to characterize matter and energy and their interactions