Lycra
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A type of synthetic elastic fabric and fibre (spandex) used for tight-fitting garments, such as swimming costumes. uncountable
- 2 Alternative form of Lycra. alt-of, alternative, uncountable
"In recent seasons fetishwear has found its way onto the catwalk, with vinyl, PVC and lycra featuring among the most unlikely designer offerings."
- 3 Clothing made from such materials, especially with reference to cycling shorts. uncountable
- 4 A tight-fitting garment made of Lycra. countable
"Being a gym bunny is simply unbecoming. Not as unbecoming, perhaps, as the bicycle bunnies, with their helmet hair, their strangely padded Lycras that suggest a degree of sexual depravity and those ridiculous clacky shoes. But we’re not very pleasing to behold."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Being a gym bunny is simply unbecoming. Not as unbecoming, perhaps, as the bicycle bunnies, with their helmet hair, their strangely padded Lycras that suggest a degree of sexual depravity and those ridiculous clacky shoes. But we’re not very pleasing to behold."
Etymology
Marketing coinage.
Related phrases
More for "lycra"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.