paperback

Also softcover;

[pey-per-bak]

noun

1. a book bound in a flexible paper cover, often a lower-priced edition of a hardcover book.

adjective

1. (of a book) bound in a flexible paper cover.

   a paperback edition of Orwell's novel.

2. of, for, or pertaining to paperbacks.

   a paperback bookstore.

paperback

/ ˈpeɪpəˌbæk /

noun

1. a book or edition with covers made of flexible card, sold relatively cheaply Compare hardback

adjective

1. of or denoting a paperback or publication of paperbacks

verb

1. to publish in paperback

Other Word Forms

• paperbacker noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of paperback¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; paper + back ¹

Example Sentences

Larry’s the pragmatic choice, but Luke is the romantic one, down to his handsome, chiseled features right out of a supermarket paperback.

Read more on Salon

Following World War I, fantastic “art” was largely identified with Surrealism, while popular fantasy was mostly quartered within the new mass-market ghettos of pulps, comics, film marketing and paperback books.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Like many people, my garage and closets are littered with the detritus of modern life—from stacks of paperbacks and fancy china to a fussy tea maker, still swaddled in its box.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But Isaac is a literature guy, toting around a paperback of Nobel Prize winner José Saramago’s “Blindness” to underscore that neither one of them sees their mismatch clearly.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Some of the performers fans have travelled from other towns and cities to grab his old paperbacks, some of which contain annotations by Cave.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• album 
• booklet 
• brochure 
• copy 
• dictionary 
• edition 
• essay 
• fiction 
• magazine 
• manual 
• novel 
• pamphlet 
• publication 
• text 
• textbook 
• tome 
• volume 
• work 
• writing