paperback

noun

pa·​per·​back ˈpā-pər-ˌbak 

: a book with a flexible paper binding

paperback adjective

or less commonly paperbacked

ˈpā-pər-ˌbakt 

Examples of paperback in a Sentence

The store sells both paperbacks and hardcovers.

The book is sold only in paperback.

Recent Examples on the Web

In the quest for the next culture-dominating Game of Thrones-esque series, consider Netflix’s big bet: 3 Body Problem, an adaptation of Chinese novelist Liu Cixin’s 2008 science fiction novel (the tote-around paperback for the haute-nerd set). —Vogue, 19 July 2024

Not even analog entertainment like a paperback or journal to write in. —Charlie Hobbs, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 July 2024

The play starts with a bored office worker reading aloud from a battered paperback, his colleagues eventually getting conscripted into various roles. —Sophia Nguyen, Washington Post, 25 June 2024

But perhaps the most informative, in a creepy way, is a little yellowing paperback entitled Histoire de Bretagne, by Alain de Cleuziou and Charles de Calan, first published in 1910. —Rosanna Warren, Harper's Magazine, 25 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1843, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

paperback

noun

pa·​per·​back ˈpä-pər-ˌbak 

: a book with a flexible paper binding

paperback adjective