cardboard

1 of 2

noun

card·​board ˈkärd-ˌbȯrd 

: a material made from cellulose fiber (such as wood pulp) like paper but usually thicker

cardboardy

ˈkärd-ˌbȯr-dē 

adjective

cardboard

2 of 2

adjective

1

: made of or as if of cardboard

2

: unreal, stereotyped

a play with cardboard characters

Examples of cardboard in a Sentence

Noun

Cover the windows with cardboard.

Adjective

The play had cardboard characters.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

In the United Kingdom, attendees at last year’s conference of the Reform Party were greeted by a cardboard cutout of the Party’s leader, Nigel Farage, holding up a gold coin as a spokesperson for the precious-metal dealer Direct Bullion. —Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 4 May 2026

Footage of the incident, which remains available on YouTube, shows the sculpture upturned, interior belly exposed, tossed about by crashing waves, its famous polka dotted shell bending like cardboard to the winds. —Lale Arikoglu, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 May 2026

Adjective

Families and friends pile into cardboard watercraft of their own construction to commandeer through a course that, most of the time, ends with sinking vessels. —Anna Ortiz, Chicago Tribune, 26 Feb. 2026

The backing of a tracing paper pad is typically cardboard and semiflexible. —Bestreviews, Mercury News, 20 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1789, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1819, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for cardboard

• abhorred
• aboard
• accord
• adored
• afford
• award
• baseboard
• billboard
• blackboard
• boxboard
• breadboard
• broadsword

Kids Definition

cardboard

noun

card·​board

ˈkärd-ˌbō(ə)rd, 

-ˌbȯ(ə)rd

: a material made from cellulose fiber (as wood pulp) like paper but usually thicker