Poly

//ˈpɒli// adj, noun, verb, slang

adj, noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A polytechnic. countable, informal, uncountable
  2. 2
    A whitish, woolly plant (Teucrium polium) of the family Lamiaceae, found throughout the western Mediterranean.
  3. 3
    Polyethylene (polythene). countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    Polyurethane. countable, uncountable
  5. 5
    A polygon. countable, uncountable

    "The most common poly budget in use for games at the time of this writing is between 5,000 and 10,000 tris."

Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    Polyester. uncountable

    "a cotton-poly blend"

  2. 7
    Polyamory. countable, informal, uncountable
  3. 8
    A polyamorous person. countable, informal, uncountable
  4. 9
    A polycule. countable, informal, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To polymorph; to transform by magic. ambitransitive
Adjective
  1. 1
    Polyamorous. informal, not-comparable

    "Whether the family is poly, L.G.B.T.Q. or another minority, such as a religious one, coming out is very much a personal decision."

Synonyms

All synonyms
monomultimulti-oligo-pa12pleo-

Example

More examples

"The most common poly budget in use for games at the time of this writing is between 5,000 and 10,000 tris."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Shortening of various words.

Etymology 2

From Latin polium, the name of a plant, perhaps Teucrium polium.

Related phrases

poly pocketpoly scipoly skinpoly-mountainsolo polypoly cpoly gpoly u

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.