paperback
English meaning: Paperback
Definition
A book with flexible binding.
Example
“She prefers paperbacks because they're lighter to carry.”
Another example: “The novel will come out in paperback next spring.”
Usage — When, Where & How
An everyday publishing noun (and adjective) for a book with a flexible cardboard cover, cheaper than a hardback; common in bookshops and reading contexts ('paperback edition', 'in paperback'). Neutral in register.
Etymology & Origin
English — Origin & History
A 20th-century compound of 'paper' and 'back' (the spine/cover of a book), describing the soft cover, popularised with cheap mass-market editions from the 1930s.
Synonyms
- softback
- paperbacked
- soft-cover
- bound
Antonyms / Opposites
- hardback
- hardcover
Related Words
- ballantine
- hardback
- hardcover
- ebook
- corgi
- signet
- audiobook
- daw
- atria
- bantam
Common Collocations
- paperback edition
- in paperback
- paperback book
- mass-market paperback
- cheap paperback
- paperback original
Word Forms
paperback (sing.); paperbacks (pl.)
Word Tools
Literary Heritage
“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”
/To thine own self be true/
“Be honest with yourself — and as naturally as night follows day, you will be unable to be false to others.”
“I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too?”
/I'm nobody! Who are you?/
“I am nobody — and that quiet anonymity is more honest than the noise of public fame.”
Images
CC-licensed · free to useVideo
Language information
- Language
- English
- English
- Script
- Latin
- Family
- Indo-European
- Speakers
- 1.5B