What does "viscose" mean?

A viscous orange-brown liquid obtained by chemical treatment of cellulose and used as the basis of manufacturing rayon and cellulose film.

What is a synonym for "viscose"?

Common synonyms include: cellulose xanthate, cellulose xanthate, viscous, adhesive, clammy, close.

//ˈvɪskəʊs// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Noun

1
A viscous orange-brown liquid obtained by chemical treatment of cellulose and used as the basis of manufacturing rayon and cellulose film. countable, uncountable
"Near-synonym: rayon (synecdochally synonymous)"
2
a rayon fabric made from viscose (cellulose xanthate) fibers wordnet
3
A fabric made from this material. countable, uncountable
"Her mission statement is that clothes made from sustainable viscose and cruelty-free alternatives to leather should not be targeted at a niche market, but shown to hold their own on the Paris fashion week catwalk."
4
a cellulose ester obtained by treating cellulose with caustic soda wordnet

"Near-synonym: rayon (synecdochally synonymous)"

From Latin viscōsus, from viscum (“birdlime”); by surface analysis, visco- + -ose. Doublet of viscous.

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