pocketbook
Americannoun
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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.
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
America’s pocketbook and its military are both showing their limits.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026
“Broader electorates require democracy narratives grounded in pocketbook realities.”
From Salon • Mar. 8, 2026
Yet domestic pocketbook issues for many U.S. households remain front-and-center as 2026 kicks off on Wall Street.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 4, 2026
She was carrying a suitcase-sized pocketbook, from which protruded a pair of knitting needles, some mending, crochet hook, baby’s bottle, and copy of the Scientific American.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
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.
