noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˈniɵpɹin/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:N IY1 AH0 P R IY2 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:N IY1 OW0 P R IY2 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, commonly used in wetsuits, laptop sleeves, orthopedic braces, electrical insulation, liquid and sheet-applied elastomeric membranes and flashings, car fan belts, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: polychloroprene
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: rubber
2
noun
Meaning 2
a synthetic rubber that is resistant to oils and aging; used in waterproof products
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: rubber, synthetic rubber
History
Etymology
US, 1930s; genericized trademark for DuPont brand of polychloroprene. neo- (“new”) + isoprene (dropping the iso-), the latter from terpene. Originally called duprene (blend of DuPont and isoprene); the “new” is because neoprene was the first mass-produced general-purpose synthetic rubber.
Across languages
Translations
18 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
نيوبرين
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
Catalan:
neoprè
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
Czech:
neopren
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
Esperanto:
neopreno
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
Finnish:
neopreeni
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
French:
néoprène
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
German:
Neopren
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
Icelandic:
neópren
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
Ido:
neopreno
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
Irish:
neoipréin
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
Italian:
neoprene
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
Japanese:
ネオプレン
(neopuren)
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
Portuguese:
neoprene
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
Portuguese:
neopreno
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
Russian:
неопре́н
(neoprén)
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
Slovak:
neoprén
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
Spanish:
neopreno
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
Turkish:
neopren
— synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products
