plastische

Plastische is an adjective used in German and Dutch that relates to forming, molding, or the material plastic, and in broader usage to vivid or lifelike representation. Its linguistic roots lie in the Greek plastikos, meaning able to be molded, from plassein, to mold. The term has entered modern German and Dutch through Latin and French developments related to plastic arts and medicine.

In German, the base adjective is plastisch; when it precedes feminine or plural nouns, the ending -e is added, yielding plastische (for example, die plastische Kunst, eine plastische chirurgie). The word occurs in two main senses. In the arts, plastische Kunst refers to sculptural or form-giving disciplines—work concerned with three-dimensional shaping and material form. In medicine, plastische Chirurgie is the field of plastic or reconstructive surgery, encompassing procedures to repair, reconstruct, or alter body tissues. Additionally, plastisch can describe vivid, concrete, or lifelike descriptions in prose or speech (eine plastische Darstellung).

In Dutch, plastische functions similarly as an adjective meaning plastic or sculptural. It is used in phrases such as plastische kunst (plastic arts), plastische chirurgie (plastic surgery), and plastische maarwording in descriptions of form and structure. The term therefore covers both artistic and medical contexts, as well as figurative language describing vivid imagery.

Related terms include plastic arts, plastic surgery, and plastination (the preservation process used in anatomy). Plastische forms emphasize molding, form, and tangible representation across disciplines.