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

Brower, a birdwatcher, said her neighbor somehow convinced her to take the pigeon -- which couldn't fly and seemed malnourished -- home in a cardboard box. — Kyle Melnick The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 4 Oct. 2026

Under Doyle’s leadership, Domino’s revamped its pizza recipe and released an ad campaign comparing its previous crust to cardboard. — Amelia Lucas, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2026

Adjective

The final straw is when Trey, in an attempt to assuage Charlotte’s pain over not being able to conceive, gives her a cardboard baby. — Kyle MacLachlan, Vanity Fair, 29 Sep. 2026

In contrast with the cardboard classicism promoted by the Fascists, in American writers Pavese found a tradition that prized experience above all. — Max Norman, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 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