cardboard

[kahrd-bawrd, -bohrd]

noun

1. a thin, stiff pasteboard, used for signs, boxes, etc.

adjective

1. resembling cardboard, especially in flimsiness.

   an apartment with cardboard walls.

2. not fully lifelike; shallow; two-dimensional.

   a play with cardboard characters.

cardboard

/ ˈkɑːdˌbɔːd /

noun

1. 1. a thin stiff board made from paper pulp and used esp for making cartons

   2. ( as modifier )

      cardboard boxes

adjective

1. (prenominal) without substance

   a cardboard smile

   a cardboard general

Word History and Origins

Origin of cardboard¹

First recorded in 1840–50; card ¹ + board

Example Sentences

He employed a wide range of materials in them — wood, bronze, steel, aluminum, brass, cardboard, paper, canvas, plastic, vellum, photogravure and wallboard.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The brothers found six comic books, including Superman #1, in the attic underneath a stack of newspapers inside a cardboard box and surrounded by cobwebs in 2024, Heritage said in a press release.

Read more on BBC

The pickers, many of them also minors, snapped berries from plants and placed them in plastic cartons, eight of them in a cardboard box.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Loretta Alvarez, 26, said the communal bins - shared with about 25 other properties - were full, so she placed the cardboard envelope on top of cardboard next to the bins.

Read more on BBC

There is a bottle of cheap champagne in a cardboard ice bucket printed with a wood-grain pattern.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• badge 
• calendar 
• check 
• label 
• poster 
• program 
• sheet 
• ticket