plastic surgery

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plastic surgery (countable and uncountable, plural plastic surgeries)

1. Surgery that is performed on the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body.

   Hypernym: surgery

   Hyponym: cosmetic surgery

   1. Cosmetic surgery that is performed for appearance.

      Synonyms: aesthetic surgery, vanity surgery; work (informal, elliptical)

   • 1955, Ian Fleming, “The ‘Shiner’”, in Moonraker, London: Pan Books, published 1959, page 32:

     Other relics of plastic surgery could be detected in the man's right ear, which was not a perfect match with its companion on the left, and the right eye, which had been a surgical failure.

   • 2018 January 25, Amelia Gentleman, “Men-only clubs and menace: how the establishment maintains male power”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 October 2026:

     There was no tedious self-righteousness on the night of the gala event. The charity auction invited bids for a night out at the Windmill Club (a lapdancing venue in Soho) and a course of plastic surgery, offered as an opportunity to “Add spice to your wife”

• Formally, plastic surgery includes some types of reconstructive surgery and hand surgery, but in common use it generally refers to cosmetic surgery, with some pejorative connotations due to its associations with plastic (“synthetic, artificial”).

• -plasty