microplastic

noun

mi·​cro·​plas·​tic ˌmī-krō-ˈpla-stik 

plural microplastics

1

: a very small piece of plastic especially when occurring as an environmental pollutant

—usually used in plural

… the microplastics that have made their way into the food chain and even the air we breathe.

—Los Angeles Times

… the Mariana Trench contains the highest levels of microplastics (most likely from clothing, bottles, packaging and fishing gear) yet found in the open ocean, offering irrefutable proof that plastics have penetrated even the most remote places on the planet.

—Rina Li

specifically : a piece of plastic that is five millimeters or smaller in size

Indeed, a handful of sand or cup of seawater from nearly anywhere in the world will probably be peppered with microplastics—pieces that are tinier than a small pea and often invisible.

—Jennifer Ackerman

2

: material consisting of microplastics

Most of that microplastic is coming not from broken down plastic soda bottles or shopping bags but textiles and clothing made of synthetic materials like polyester.

—Dharna Noor

compare nanoplastic

microplastic adjective

microplastic pollution

microplastic debris

Examples of microplastic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Nordic Institute of Dental Materials has been looking into the release of microplastics from night guards. —Zoë Schlanger, The Atlantic, 25 Aug. 2025

Watch the video to learn more about how microplastics have become a major issue for big oil. —Ryan Baker, CNBC, 20 Aug. 2025

The data reveals systemic vulnerabilities: only 9% of plastic waste is successfully recycled globally, microplastics now contaminate human blood as confirmed by groundbreaking research, and current projections show plastic production almost tripling by 2060. —Trond Arne Undheim, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2025

Plastic waste has grown into a global environmental and public health crisis with plastics clogging waterways, killing marine wildlife and causing growing concern about the effects of human exposure to microplastics and toxic components of some plastics. —Jeff Young, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1990, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for microplastic

• anaplastic
• bioclastic
• fibroblastic
• hyperplastic
• hypoplastic
• inelastic
• lymphoblastic
• neoplastic
• orgiastic
• periphrastic
• predynastic
• pyroclastic