papier-mâché

American  

[pey-per-muh-shey, -ma-, pa-pyey-mah-shey] / ˌpeɪ pər məˈʃeɪ, -mæ-, pa pyeɪ mɑˈʃeɪ /

Also paper-mâché

noun

1. a substance made of pulped paper or paper pulp mixed with glue and other materials or of layers of paper glued and pressed together, molded when moist to form various articles, and becoming hard and strong when dry.

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adjective

1. made of papier-mâché.

2. easily destroyed or discredited; false, pretentious, or illusory.

   a papier-mâché façade of friendship.

papier-mâché British  

/ ˌpæpjeɪˈmæʃeɪ, papjemɑʃe /

noun

1. a hard strong substance suitable for painting on, made of paper pulp or layers of paper mixed with paste, size, etc, and moulded when moist

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adjective

1. made of papier-mâché

Etymology

Origin of papier-mâché

1745–55; < French: literally, “chewed paper”

Example Sentences

The nine-foot papier-mâché sculpture is covered with butterflies bearing the names of unhoused people who have died, and was created by members of the organization’s Studio 526 Creative Space on Skid Row.

From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2026

If they existed at all, those guardrails were constructed of papier-mâché.

From Salon • May 18, 2026

The scene she depicts even imitates her real life: Kahlo actually kept a smaller, papier-mâché skeleton atop her own canopy bed in Mexico City as a reassuring symbol of death’s ubiquity.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

One of the most famous involved Frank Morris, and brothers Clarence and John Anglin, who escaped in June 1962 by placing papier-mâché heads in their beds and breaking out through ventilation ducts.

From BBC • May 10, 2025

Our new teacher expected us to think about writing reports while Miss Honeywell’s new class was making papier-mâché volcanoes with bicarbonate lava.

From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia