pocketbook
Americannoun
-
a small bag or case for money, papers, etc, carried by a handle or in the pocket
-
(modifier) concerned with personal finance
pocketbook issues
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pocketbook
Explanation
Pocketbook is another name for a purse or wallet, a place to keep money or other essentials. Pocketbook can also refer to the amount of money you have, even if it’s in your mattress. In the UK, pocketbook is a pocket-sized notebook, but in the US it's usually a small bag typically carried by women. Figuratively, your pocketbook is your budget: "Those shoes are way too expensive for my pocketbook." In the early 1600s, a pocketbook was "a book small enough to fit in a pocket," and by 1722 it became "a booklike leather folder for papers." In the early 1800s, it came to mean "woman's handbag."
Vocabulary lists containing pocketbook
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:
All of it, unfortunately, has been passed down to your pocketbook in one form or another.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026
As in prior years, the pollsters noted, each of the voters’ priority issues for elected officials to address — from cost of living to healthcare to housing — “are all driven by pocketbook concerns.”
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2026
Officials said they would use this additional fiscal firepower on measures to raise the country’s standard of living, and help households deal with pocketbook strains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
With midterm elections coming in November, pocketbook subjects like the cost of groceries and utilities appear poised to grab a bigger share of voters’ attention — and ire.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 29, 2025
I dug into my pocketbook and found the scraps of my letter to Doreen.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
Colombians went to the polls feeling better about their pocketbooks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
“If pocketbooks are being stretched and consumers are being choiceful and value-seeking, it stands to reason, if there’s more pressure on the consumer, they’re only going to become more so.”
From Barron's ● Nov. 21, 2025
“We understand that people understand, as people look at their pocketbooks to go to the grocery store, that there’s still work to do,” Hassett said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2025
But was this a true bridge-too-far-moment, or were they more concerned about their own pocketbooks?
From Slate ● Nov. 8, 2025
Their hearts and consciences might be as hard as flint, but their pocketbooks were as sensitive as a cat’s whiskers.
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
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.
