on paper

Idioms  

1. In theory, hypothetically, as in Considering casualties, on paper the Americans won the Vietnam War, or They are a good team on paper but not so in the field. This metaphoric expression contrasts something written down with concrete reality. [Late 1700s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

on paper

If you can afford to pay off the mortgage without leaving yourselves short of an adequate emergency reserve, I wouldn’t dismiss that choice completely just because it isn’t mathematically optimal on paper.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026

We’re both U.S. citizens, safe on paper, but what if the value of our papers has changed?

From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2026

They’d write down seemingly “innocent” questions — like “What do you think the fire has taught you?” — on paper.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

While it’s a significant upgrade on paper, it’d be challenging to commercialize given uniformity issues during mass production, he says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

She usually found it so easy to escape somewhere else, to get right inside the minds of people and animals who existed only on paper, so why not now?

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke

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