polystyrene
/pɒliˈstaɪriːn/noun
polystyrene is spelled P-O-L-Y-S-T-Y-R-E-N-E: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,998th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, polystyrene means “A vinylic polymer of styrene, CH₂CHphenyl” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of polystyrene is polystyrenes.
How many letters and syllables are in polystyrene?
| Letters | 11: P-O-L-Y-S-T-Y-R-E-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,998th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is polystyrene?
Polystyrene appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,998th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce polystyrene?
- /pɒliˈstaɪriːn/
Polystyrene has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-polystyrene.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of polystyrene
- polystyrenes plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does polystyrene mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A vinylic polymer of styrene, CH₂CHphenyl.
- 2
An alkane chain of benzene molecules, RCH₂CHphenylR.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate polystyrene?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of polystyrene: PS.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Polystyrene in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense polymer:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | polystyrène |
| Portuguese | poliestireno |
| Spanish | poliestireno |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does polystyrene come from?
From poly- + styrene.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).