placard
Americannoun
-
placards
plural
-
a paperboard sign or notice, as one posted in a public place or carried by a demonstrator or picketer.
-
Armor. placate.
verb (used with object)
-
placards,
present (3rd person singular)
-
placarded,
past participle, past
-
placarding
present participle
-
to display placards on or in.
The square was placarded by peace marchers.
-
to publicize, announce, or advertise by means of placards.
-
to post as a placard.
noun
-
a printed or written notice for public display; poster
-
a small plaque or card
verb
-
to post placards on or in
-
to publicize or advertise by placards
-
to display as a placard
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
placardsimple
-
placardssimple
-
have placardedperfect
-
has placardedperfect
-
am placardingprogressive
-
are placardingprogressive
-
is placardingprogressive
-
have been placardingperfect progressive
-
has been placardingperfect progressive
Past
-
placardedsimple
-
had placardedperfect
-
was placardingprogressive
-
were placardingprogressive
-
had been placardingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of placard
Explanation
A placard is a sign, especially one that advertises something. You might get a summer job standing on the sidewalk, holding a placard that announces a mattress sale — though it may not be your dream job. A concert poster, a storefront notice, a protest sign carried in a rally — each of these is a type of placard. A placard can be as impermanent as a square of cardboard with a scrawled message, and as official as a permanent plaque marking a historic building. The Old French word plaquier is at the root of placard, and it means "to plaster or to lay flat."
Vocabulary lists containing placard
The Sun Is Also a Star
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Johnny Tremain
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
One held a placard that said, “These fares don’t keep the wheels of life turning,” according to a video verified by Storyful.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
"I'd love it if someone paid for a placard on one of the benches that said, 'Will you marry me?'," she laughs.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
But lately, more of the books rising to the top wear the placard noticeably looser.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
One woman held a placard saying "there's no time for fear" and a child brought pictures he had drawn of Magyar.
From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026
I started to pull the door open when I noticed something else in the window—a placard on an easel.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
The same individual also made off with four bronze placards from the benches at nearby Patriot Point, police said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
In the predominantly Kurdish city of Qamishli, hundreds of people marched on Tuesday carrying placards reading: "No to the starvation policy" and "No to the increase in fuel prices."
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
Look closely at the posters, placards and online posts.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Trade unionists held placards with slogans such as “Our jobs aren’t your balance-sheet adjustment,” according to people present.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Ignatius pushed past her and lumbered down to the car, opening the rear door of the little Renault and climbing in among the placards and piles of pamphlets that covered the seat.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
The Ben Crump Law website is placarded with numerous recent cable news appearances, many conducted from his Tallahassee home during quarantine.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 18, 2020
A Florida realtor followed Bryan's motor in another bungalow on wheels, placarded : "Ask us about Tampa ! Ask us ! Ask us!"
From Time Magazine Archive
This Fascisti bill, placarded throughout the small village of Arona in northern Italy, resulted in a rush of the populace en masse to the polls.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Nebraska Senate defeated a bill providing that the Ten Commandments should be placarded in every public school of the state.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Food Administration placarded their statement that 'Food Will Win the War' broadcast throughout the country, and that was followed by a whole flock of other claimants, particularly after the armistice was signed.
From On Secret Service Detective-Mystery Stories Based on Real Cases Solved By Government Agents by William Nelson Taft
The 'folly of the Cross,' the placarding of our human weakness, is something more intimate than the mere stripping off of outward paraphernalia.
From Time Magazine Archive
No speaker mentioned Adlai Stevenson, and his picture was not among the big portraits of party leaders placarding the hall.
From Time Magazine Archive
Had all their speech-making, placarding, bill-posting and the canvassing of factories, blocks, and primaries—had all their little savings, their risk and personal sacrifice accomplished anything?
From How To Write Special Feature Articles A Handbook for Reporters, Correspondents and Free-Lance Writers Who Desire to Contribute to Popular Magazines and Magazine Sections of Newspapers by Willard Grosvenor Bleyer
I venture to think the conjurers unwise in irritating the spiritualists, who are a growing body, by placarding their entertainment as exposés, even though such announcements may "draw" the non-spiritual public.
From Mystic London: or, Phases of occult life in the metropolis by Charles Maurice Davies
O bragging, advertising, placarding, circular-scattering, auctioneering, humbuging world!
From Brook Farm Historic and Personal Memoirs by John Thomas Codman
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.
