paperback
Americannoun
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paperbacks
plural
adjective
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(of a book) bound in a flexible paper cover.
a paperback edition of Orwell's novel.
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of, for, or pertaining to paperbacks.
a paperback bookstore.
noun
adjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of paperback
Compare meaning
How does paperback compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A paperback is a book with a paper cover, instead of a soft cover. If you wait to buy a book until it comes out as a paperback, you'll save money. In the 1830s and 40s, publishers began offering inexpensive versions of already-published books with paper covers, and the word paperback followed in 1888. Paperbacks are popular because they're smaller, lighter, and less expensive than their stiffly bound hardcover counterparts. A paperback edition of a book is usually released about a year after the book is first published in hardcover, although some books, called paperback originals, are published only in paperback form.
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:
It is newly arrived in paperback, and a perfect summer page-turner.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
"Then we'll buy the paperback when it comes out," she added.
From BBC ● May 24, 2026
The paperback rights for her second book, 1978’s Love Signs, were sold for $2.5 million, establishing an industry record at the time.
From Slate ● May 5, 2026
The device, roughly the size of a paperback book, produces small amounts of power by capturing energy released as these microorganisms break down organic material in dirt.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 19, 2026
A faded paperback with a scaly creature on the front.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
For the next few months, I’m setting aside my beach bag’s slender paperbacks and picking up “Middlemarch.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
"With fiction here, most people buy paperbacks, the only market for hardback fiction is first editions," he said.
From BBC ● May 24, 2026
The English-language books that are selling abroad are generally cheap paperbacks, printed by American and British publishers as export editions.
From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2024
A short distance away is a shelf of vintage mystery paperbacks that, when pressed in the correct spots, opens onto a kind of grotto.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2024
They found Hollister in the middle of the store, sorting paperbacks out of a cardboard box.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
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.
