cardboard
Americannoun
adjective
-
resembling cardboard, especially in flimsiness.
an apartment with cardboard walls.
-
not fully lifelike; shallow; two-dimensional.
a play with cardboard characters.
noun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of cardboard
Explanation
The heavy, rigid paper that's used to make the boxes you use for mailing things is called cardboard. Cardboard also comes in handy for crafts and projects in classrooms. A lot of cardboard is made from several layers of thick paper, so that it's stiff and strong, and protects items inside cardboard boxes. You can also use the word cardboard to describe a fictional character who doesn't seem real: "The mother in the movie was such a cardboard character." In the 18th century, cardboard was known as card paper.
Vocabulary lists containing cardboard
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.
You don’t need a cardboard coop to emulate the competition elsewhere—and if ice cream isn’t enough of a draw, treat the person who goes longest without using their phone to a free drink.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
At the edge of the crowd, a clutch of children were all drawing flamingos on a long piece of cardboard on the ground, and many people held pink flamingos on sticks.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
Ducking into Maryam Lashkari, Hodjat Salimi and Oscar Tuazon’s interactive sculpture — an enormous cardboard tube lying on its side — feels like entering a culvert or a bomb shelter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Now every night, the roofs, parks, and porches of Havana fill with people lying on cardboard, mattresses, or directly on the ground.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
CPU is tied to the fence, ripping apart a cardboard box.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
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.
