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 • Apr. 29, 2022

But you and I both know that the real star of the film was the courtesans au chocolat from Mendel's down in the village, vivid stacks of cream puffs arranged in pink pasteboard boxes.

From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2018

“High-tech things can help attract customers,” says Mr. Qin, whose pasteboard sign features a robot.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 24, 2016

Stroheim was as detailed and observant a director working in front of the pasteboard castles of “Foolish Wives” as the desert of “Greed.”

From The New Yorker • Jan. 14, 2016

Every head in the room looked up in dismay and exhaustion at the canteen’s pasteboard ceiling, as if they could see through it.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein