placard
Americannoun
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placards
plural
-
a paperboard sign or notice, as one posted in a public place or carried by a demonstrator or picketer.
-
Armor. placate.
verb (used with object)
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placards,
present (3rd person singular)
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placarded,
past participle, past
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placarding
present participle
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to display placards on or in.
The square was placarded by peace marchers.
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to publicize, announce, or advertise by means of placards.
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to post as a placard.
noun
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a printed or written notice for public display; poster
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a small plaque or card
verb
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to post placards on or in
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to publicize or advertise by placards
-
to display as a placard
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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placardsimple
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placardssimple
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have placardedperfect
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has placardedperfect
-
am placardingprogressive
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are placardingprogressive
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is placardingprogressive
-
have been placardingperfect progressive
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has been placardingperfect progressive
Past
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placardedsimple
-
had placardedperfect
-
was placardingprogressive
-
were placardingprogressive
-
had been placardingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of placard
Explanation
A placard is a sign, especially one that advertises something. You might get a summer job standing on the sidewalk, holding a placard that announces a mattress sale — though it may not be your dream job. A concert poster, a storefront notice, a protest sign carried in a rally — each of these is a type of placard. A placard can be as impermanent as a square of cardboard with a scrawled message, and as official as a permanent plaque marking a historic building. The Old French word plaquier is at the root of placard, and it means "to plaster or to lay flat."
Vocabulary lists containing placard
The Sun Is Also a Star
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Eats, Shoots & Leaves
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Johnny Tremain
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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.
See Examples For:
"Thank you for everything, we will never forget you," read a message on the candle, which accompanied flowers and a placard calling Abascal "the grandmother of an entire country".
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Her pastries are displayed gallery-style on individual plates with placard descriptions, and customers can eat them in a serene ground-floor dining area or get them to-go.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
"Free our president," read a placard held by a man with a red flannel shirt which bore the image of Maduro's predecessor and mentor, late socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez.
From Barron's ● Jan. 5, 2026
City of London Police said a 22-year-old woman was arrested for displaying a placard in support of a proscribed organisation, in this case Palestine Action, contrary to Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2025
"I still have much to do. I plan to paint every beam and ceiling placard."
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
The same individual also made off with four bronze placards from the benches at nearby Patriot Point, police said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
In the predominantly Kurdish city of Qamishli, hundreds of people marched on Tuesday carrying placards reading: "No to the starvation policy" and "No to the increase in fuel prices."
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
The council’s signage was then replaced with placards urging residents to fight back against the parking plans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
While Wangchuk is not at the protest site any longer, many of the placards and posters have slogans about his fast and drawings of him.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
A few carried placards the wording of which I couldn’t distinguish.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
The Ben Crump Law website is placarded with numerous recent cable news appearances, many conducted from his Tallahassee home during quarantine.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 18, 2020
C. I. O. In Manhattan, to inform the public that they wanted a closed shop, C. I. O. cleaners & dyers released 500 placarded balloons from Times Square hotel windows.
From Time Magazine Archive
Manhattan's independent radio station WNEW, convinced that listeners want mostly music and news, has placarded buses and taxis with the promise that there are "no sob stories. . . no horror stories" on WNEW.
From Time Magazine Archive
Across the street from the church were two grievous eyesores: a Church of England edifice placarded with snappy ads for religion, and the Garden of Eden dance hall.
From Time Magazine Archive
Before the error was discovered, Paris and the other great towns had been placarded with the incorrect imprints.
From Peeps at Postage Stamps by Stanley Currie Johnson
The 'folly of the Cross,' the placarding of our human weakness, is something more intimate than the mere stripping off of outward paraphernalia.
From Time Magazine Archive
No speaker mentioned Adlai Stevenson, and his picture was not among the big portraits of party leaders placarding the hall.
From Time Magazine Archive
I venture to think the conjurers unwise in irritating the spiritualists, who are a growing body, by placarding their entertainment as exposés, even though such announcements may "draw" the non-spiritual public.
From Mystic London: or, Phases of occult life in the metropolis by Charles Maurice Davies
This duty is not confined to registering the information or placarding the house, nor will it be properly performed by merely removing the sick person to a hospital and disinfecting the premises.
From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various
Had all their speech-making, placarding, bill-posting and the canvassing of factories, blocks, and primaries—had all their little savings, their risk and personal sacrifice accomplished anything?
From How To Write Special Feature Articles A Handbook for Reporters, Correspondents and Free-Lance Writers Who Desire to Contribute to Popular Magazines and Magazine Sections of Newspapers by Willard Grosvenor Bleyer
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