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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.

I read the paperback so often and so hard that I wore off the cover and had to stick it back on with tape.

From The Wall Street Journal

After all that, Dr. Cain went over to her desk and came back with a black notebook about the size of a Captain Underpants paperback.

From Literature

As imprints focus on awards season and holiday sales, several of this month’s best titles are out as paperback releases.

From Los Angeles Times

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

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.