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paperback

American  
[pey-per-bak] / ˈpeɪ pərˌbæk /
Also softcover;

noun

  1. a book bound in a flexible paper cover, often a lower-priced edition of a hardcover book.

adjective

  1. (of a book) bound in a flexible paper cover.

    a paperback edition of Orwell's novel.

  2. of, for, or pertaining to paperbacks.

    a paperback bookstore.

paperback British  
/ ˈpeɪpəˌbæk /

noun

  1. a book or edition with covers made of flexible card, sold relatively cheaply Compare hardback

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. of or denoting a paperback or publication of paperbacks

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to publish in paperback

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • paperbacker noun

Etymology

Origin of paperback

First recorded in 1895–1900; paper + back 1

Compare meaning

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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.

Larry’s the pragmatic choice, but Luke is the romantic one, down to his handsome, chiseled features right out of a supermarket paperback.

From Salon

Following World War I, fantastic “art” was largely identified with Surrealism, while popular fantasy was mostly quartered within the new mass-market ghettos of pulps, comics, film marketing and paperback books.

From The Wall Street Journal

Like many people, my garage and closets are littered with the detritus of modern life—from stacks of paperbacks and fancy china to a fussy tea maker, still swaddled in its box.

From The Wall Street Journal

But Isaac is a literature guy, toting around a paperback of Nobel Prize winner José Saramago’s “Blindness” to underscore that neither one of them sees their mismatch clearly.

From Los Angeles Times

Some of the performers fans have travelled from other towns and cities to grab his old paperbacks, some of which contain annotations by Cave.

From BBC

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.