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rubbery

rubbery

13 3.3
Flexible and bouncy when you bend or squeeze it
  • adjective
  • /ˈrʌbəri/
: elástico
  • Blythe's arms and legs are made of a flexible rubbery material, and she only has six points of articulation.
  • rubbery legs
  • felt rubbery
  • rubbery lips

And so it can have properties like like a golf ball that that will be much more rigid than say a latex that has a more rubbery.

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Examples

  • After a long workout, my legs felt rubbery and weak as I tried to stand.

  • Legs are a little rubbery after all that time sitting here.

  • The legs appear to be still a little rubbery.

  • It has a very rubbery kind of texture.

  • Leaning against the Ping-Pong table, he picked up the stethoscope and felt its peculiar rubbery tubes.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The Pacific chorus frogs were the most abundant, a plain rubbery green with gray-white bellies speckled with gravel dots of black.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • The overcooked pasta had a rubbery texture that made it hard to chew.

  • The new basketball has a rubbery grip that helps players control the ball.

Synonyms

flexible
vsrubbery
46 3.4

Able to bend easily without breaking and return to shape

is tougher, stressing resilient texture like a durable elastic material
elastic
vsrubbery
29 2.6

Able to return to its original shape after being stretched or pressed

is more about durable flexible texture than about springy rebound behavior
stretchy
vsrubbery
11 1.9

A fabric you can pull that returns to its old shape

is firmer and emphasizes toughness as well as flexible recovery
bendy
vsrubbery
7 2.5

Easy to move into new shapes

is more about a resilient, tough texture rather than casual bendability
pliant
vsrubbery
2 5.6

Easily bent or shaped without breaking

is firmer and highlights strength plus flexibility rather than softness
squeezable
vsrubbery
1 2.8

Easy to press by hand to change shape or let out what is inside

focuses on durable flexible toughness rather than simple compressibility
rubberlike
vsrubbery
1 4.1

A thing that feels stretchy and slightly tough like rubber

is narrower, focusing on durable flexibility and toughness rather than broad elasticity

Antonyms

631 1.0

Firm and not easy to bend, break, or pierce

33 3.9

Hard and likely to break

How Flexible

rubbery
13 3.3
elastic
29 2.6
flexible
46 3.4
pliable
8 4.2
firm
87 1.0

Surface Forms

rubbery positive

Morphology

rubbery = rubber (transparent) = rubber + y

Direct adjectival derivation from 'rubber' indicating 'having the flexible, elastic quality of rubber'.

Etymology

Rubbery comes from the material rubber and the ending -y, so it literally means 'like rubber'. That helps you remember that something rubbery is flexible, stretchy, and tough, because rubber bends and springs back.