pamphlet
Americannoun
-
a complete publication of generally less than 80 pages stitched or stapled together and usually having a paper cover.
-
a short treatise or essay, generally a controversial tract, on some subject of contemporary interest.
a political pamphlet.
noun
-
a brief publication generally having a paper cover; booklet
-
a brief treatise, often on a subject of current interest, published in pamphlet form
Other Word Forms
- pamphletary adjective
Etymology
Origin of pamphlet
1375–1425; late Middle English pamflet < Anglo-Latin panfletus, pamfletus, syncopated variant of Pamphiletus, diminutive of Medieval Latin Pamphilus, title of a 12th-century Latin comedy. See -et
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.
It would never be mistaken for a dry lecture or a didactic pamphlet.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2026
The pamphlet changed the way Americans viewed government.
From Salon • Jan. 10, 2026
Another virtue of this plan is its length—think pamphlet instead of book.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025
It drew little attention, yet it was from this pamphlet that the idea of the OBR was born.
From BBC • Nov. 24, 2025
Another successful pamphlet about the Fox sisters’ spirits came from Rochester printer D. M. Dewey.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
