lycra

IPA/ˈlaɪ.krə/
KK[lˈaɪkrə]IPA/ˈlaɪ.krə/

lycra — noun

1. a trademarked elastic fibre often blended into clothing fabric so that the garme

1.nounB2
Definition

a trademarked elastic fibre often blended into clothing fabric so that the garment hugs the body closely and springs back to its shape after stretching.

Example

Renata bought a pair of black Lycra leggings for her morning yoga class.

attributive: Lycra + clothing noun

The cycling shorts contain about twenty percent Lycra to keep them snug on the legs.

percentage of Lycra in a blend

Common collocations
  • Lycra leggings
  • Lycra shorts
  • Lycra top
  • cotton-and-Lycra blend
  • percent Lycra
Synonyms
  • spandex

    American English; same fibre, a generic name rather than a brand

  • elastane

    the chemical-industry generic; common on European garment labels

Grammar Patterns

uncountable noun

often used attributively before another noun

Usage Note

Almost always used attributively before a clothing noun (Lycra leggings, Lycra shorts) or as the second element in a blend description (twenty percent Lycra). Rarely used on its own as the subject of a sentence.

Common Mistakes

I am wearing a Lycra.
I am wearing Lycra shorts.
Lycra names the fibre, not the garment; pair it with the clothing noun.
These trousers are made from lycras.
These trousers are made from Lycra.
Lycra is uncountable; no plural form.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

These three labels all refer to the same family of elastic polyurethane fibres, but the choice of word usually tells you which side of the Atlantic the speaker is on. Lycra is the brand name created by DuPont in the late 1950s; British and Australian English often use it as the default term for any stretchy synthetic in clothing. Spandex is the generic word in the United States and Canada, where it appears on most garment labels and in everyday speech. Elastane is the chemistry-and-textile-industry name and is the term you will read on European clothing tags. So a Taiwanese learner shopping online will meet 'Lycra leggings' in a UK store, 'spandex leggings' in a US store, and 'cotton with five percent elastane' on a European label.

Lycra ↗spandex ↗elastane

Common collocations

Nouns

  • Lycra leggings
  • Lycra shorts
  • Lycra top
  • Lycra swimsuit

Phrases

  • a Lycra blend
  • twenty percent Lycra

Prepositions

  • made from Lycra
  • blended with Lycra

Etymology

English (trade name)

Lycra is a coined trade name registered by the American chemical company DuPont in 1958 for a new elastic polyurethane fibre its scientists had just developed. The name has no Greek or Latin root; it was made up to sound short, snappy, and easy to print on a clothing label. Because the fibre quickly became the most successful stretch material on the market, the brand name began to be used loosely as a general word for any similar elastic fibre, especially in British English. The American generic equivalent, spandex, is itself a partial anagram of 'expands'.