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Synonyms

pocketbook

American  
[pok-it-book] / ˈpɒk ɪtˌbʊk /

noun

  1. handbag.

  2. a person's financial resources or means.

    The price was out of reach of his pocketbook.

  3. Also pocket book a book, usually paperback, that is small enough to carry in one's coat pocket.

  4. British.

    1. a notebook for carrying in one's pocket.

    2. a wallet or billfold.

pocketbook British  
/ ˈpɒkɪtˌbʊk /

noun

  1. a small bag or case for money, papers, etc, carried by a handle or in the pocket

  2. (modifier) concerned with personal finance

    pocketbook issues
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of pocketbook

First recorded in 1610–20; pocket + book

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.

America’s pocketbook and its military are both showing their limits.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

With midterm elections coming in November, pocketbook subjects like the cost of groceries and utilities appear poised to grab a bigger share of voters’ attention — and ire.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 29, 2025

By the early 20th century, dictionaries of American slang show gravy drifting from the plate to the pocketbook.

From Salon • Nov. 23, 2025

Economists and other experts have long repeated the conventional wisdom that the stock market isn’t the economy, meaning that temporary pullbacks on Wall Street don’t always ripple as far as the average American’s pocketbook.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025

Setting her pocketbook down on the table, she bent over to dig in it, her hair hanging down both sides of her face.

From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott

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.