wallpaper

1 of 2

noun

wall·​pa·​per ˈwȯl-ˌpā-pər 

1

: decorative paper for the walls of a room

2

: the background image or set of images displayed on a computer screen

After becoming a member, the user gets to design a homepage with his or her choice of pictures, music, wallpaper, writing, and information making each page unique.

—Fahiym Ratcliffe

wallpaper

2 of 2

verb

wallpapered; wallpapering; wallpapers

transitive verb

: to provide the walls of (a room) with wallpaper

intransitive verb

: to put wallpaper on a wall

Examples of wallpaper in a Sentence

Noun

The wallpaper began to peel.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Ray Azoulay, founder of LA gallery Obsolete, as well as AD100 firms Pierce & Ward and Heidi Caillier Design were invited to reimagine select patterns from the master's archive as a fabric and wallpaper. —Sydney Gore, Architectural Digest, 29 Sep. 2025

Rosa is decorated with floral wallpaper. —Lyndsay C. Green, Freep.com, 28 Sep. 2025

Verb

This can include installing shiplap, beadboard, or picture frame molding, versus painting or wallpapering just one wall. —Shivani Vyas, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Sep. 2025

Okay, so the former was a joke, the latter less so, as the display was wallpapered with actual print-outs from the tween and teen catalog as well as magazine spreads showing you how to dress like Buffy Summers for under $20. —Rachel McRady, PEOPLE, 20 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1827, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1918, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for wallpaper

• newspaper
• notepaper
• sandpaper
• skyscraper
• wastepaper
• caper
• paper
• raper
• scraper
• shaper
• taper
• vapor

Kids Definition

wallpaper

noun

wall·​pa·​per

ˈwȯl-ˌpā-pər

: decorative paper for covering the walls of a room

wallpaper verb