pasteboard

American  

[peyst-bawrd, -bohrd] / ˈpeɪstˈbɔrd, -ˌboʊrd /

noun

1. a stiff, firm board made of sheets of paper pasted or layers of paper pulp pressed together.

2. Older Slang. a card, as a visiting card or a playing card.

3. Older Slang. a ticket, as for the theater.

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adjective

1. made of pasteboard.

2. unsubstantial, flimsy, or sham.

pasteboard British  

/ ˈpeɪstˌbɔːd /

noun

1. 1. a stiff board formed from layers of paper or pulp pasted together, esp as used in bookbinding

   2. ( as modifier )

      a pasteboard book cover

2. slang a card or ticket

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adjective

1. flimsy; insubstantial

2. sham; fake

Other Word Forms

• pasteboardy adjective

Etymology

Origin of pasteboard

First recorded in 1540–50; paste + board

Example Sentences

Before that, he had given a Thanksgiving premiere of Krenek’s Symphony No. 4, a serial work with “about as much savor to it as a pasteboard turkey,” the critic Virgil Thomson quipped.

From New York Times

“We do not store or send the pasteboard contents. We removed this code and are releasing the fix on July 14th.”

From The Verge

And finally his spirit of incompetence means that conservatives get far less out of his administration than they would from a genuine imperial president, a man of iron rather than of pasteboard.

From New York Times

As I wiped the sweat off my face and picked up a pasteboard box, I knew I couldn’t mention such to Mama anyway—about the beds, I mean.

From Literature

All of them taught me different ways to create a world populated by living, breathing characters, so that the reader never notices the pasteboard, the strings and levers.

From New York Times