rubbery
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of rubbery
Explanation
Rubbery things have a tough, flexible texture, like a rubbery playground ball or a rubbery piece of American cheese. You'll often find the adjective rubbery describing food that's unpleasant to chew, like rubbery pasta or overcooked, rubbery chicken. Things actually made out of rubber are rubbery too, like a rubbery water balloon or the pair of rubbery gloves your grandma uses for gardening. Rubbery comes from rubber, a noun that originally meant "an eraser made from a tropical plant," or in other words, "a thing that rubs."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
House music, the post-disco form with a 4/4 rhythm and rubbery syncopated basslines, is the genre at the center of the LP, but there is plenty of variety.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
People assume it's rubbery, but that's Pacific kelp - Japanese kombu.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
The food fight that explodes in the play’s third movement is conducted with comestibles so rubbery they might be part of a clown show.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2026
There’s a bit of resistance, too, that’s almost rubbery.
From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2026
Slowly, I peel off the skin, which tastes tough and rubbery.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
