wallpaper

noun wall·pa·per \ ˈwȯl-ˌpā-pər \

|Updated on: 11 Aug 2018

Examples: wallpaper in a Sentence

Definition of wallpaper

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

See wallpaper defined for English-language learners

See wallpaper defined for kids

Examples of wallpaper in a Sentence

The wallpaper began to peel.

Recent Examples of wallpaper from the Web

Riffs about the wallpaper in a White House dining room.

— jack mccallum, SI.com, "The President Is Golfing," 27 June 2018
From the wallpaper to the headboard, his bedroom was decorated with the youngster’s favorite baseball team: The New York Yankees.

— gentry estes, The Courier-Journal, "Ex-Cards pitcher gets big welcome home in game against Louisville Bats," 30 May 2018
The works spill into the book-selling space, which Mr. Wood has covered with wallpaper in a tennis-ball motif.

— New York Times, "10 Galleries to Visit Now on the Upper East Side," 26 Apr. 2018
There’s a jazzy ‘20s vibe in the upstairs bar with its tin ceiling, while birch tree-like wallpaper in a corridor evokes après ski.

— lilah ramzi, Vogue, "A First Look Inside Legacy Records, the Latest Restaurant From the Team Behind Charlie Bird," 16 Feb. 2018
The theme connects throughout the home with the sculptural vases and Hubble Wall Sconces designed by Pietro Russo for Baxter in the living room, and the terrazzo wallpaper in the bathroom.

— danielle fox, ELLE Decor, "House Tour: How One New Yorker Achieved Timeless Style In A Rented Loft," 16 Feb. 2018
The apartment had '60s wallpaper in the kitchen with vintage metal cabinets and a pink counter.

— mary beth klatt, chicagotribune.com, "Forget modern: Some Chicago renters seek vintage apartments stuck in the past," 15 Aug. 2017
Hyperallergic’s Allison Meier reports that in addition to acting as a key ingredient in green paint and dye, the pigment was used in cosmetics, children’s toys and wallpaper.

— meilan solly, Smithsonian, "Arsenic-Laced Books Discovered in University Library," 3 July 2018
Some likened it to wallpaper and other things found at a grandmother's house.

— noel harris, sacbee, "How Jesus, Wakanda, UPS and grandma’s couch took center stage at the NBA draft," 21 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'wallpaper.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of wallpaper

1827

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

wallpaper

verb

Definition of wallpaper

wallpapered; wallpapering; wallpapers

transitive verb

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

intransitive verb

: to put wallpaper on a wall

See wallpaper defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of wallpaper from the Web

According to a wall text, Smith’s own library is wallpapered with such snakes, and rooms in Smith’s house frequently appear in his artworks.

— edith newhall, Philly.com, "Art to see now: Keith Smith at PMA and minimalists at Larry Becker," 13 June 2018
When my mother didn’t die or disappear, when the house was still there, the sun set, the clocks seemed to keep the right time, I was relieved, only to wake fresh into a new morning wallpapered with my anxiety.

— amanda stern, Health.com, "I Lived With Anxiety So Debilitating It Kept Me From Going Outside—Until I Finally Received a Surprising Diagnosis," 19 June 2018
Aside from screenings, panels, cocktails and the chance to hobnob with stars, Los Angeles and New York are wallpapered with billboards, streetlight banners and bus-shelter ads ahead of Monday's start of the two-week voting period for 2018 nominees.

— bill keveney, USA TODAY, "Zach Galifianakis serves Arby's? The insane explosion of Emmy campaigning," 6 June 2018
An archway in the dining room is wallpapered in Lions season tickets.

— john carlisle, Detroit Free Press, "Father, son bond writing U.P. bars book and it becomes a cult classic," 10 June 2018
Today is a bright spot for the fans still wallpapering the internet with GIFs of Firefly, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and all other genre shows cancelled but not forgotten.

— emma grey ellis, WIRED, "What Brought Sense8 Back—and What Killed It in the First Place," 8 June 2018
Full of energy, Connie painted and wallpapered and redecorated houses all while being a wonderful and attentive mother to three children who came in rapid succession.

— Sun-Sentinel.com, "Deaths in South Florida: 6/6," 6 June 2018
One of the first works to do so was Art for the Art World Surface Pattern (1976), a small, freestanding room wallpapered with photos of violence and destruction, over which is stenciled the phrase: not a performance.

— jillian steinhauer, The New Republic, "Adrian Piper’s art plays with identity and confronts defensiveness.," 30 May 2018
Conferring in the husband's study, which is wallpapered with dire scientific charts, Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke) urges the troubled Michael (Philip Ettinger) not to surrender to despair.

— j.r. jones, Chicago Reader, "Paul Schrader’s First Reformed finds pride at the root of despair," 24 May 2018

First Known Use of wallpaper

1918

in the meaning defined at transitive sense

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Financial Definition of WALLPAPER

wallpaper

noun

What It Is

Wallpaper is slang for a security with minimal to no market value.

How It Works

Once a security becomes worthless, its hard documentation (for example, its stock certificate) no longer has any practical function. The term "wallpaper" suggests that it be used as such.

Why It Matters

Following the Internet startup bust in the early 2000s, the stock of many web-based companies turned into wallpaper in a short span of time. The term doesn't only apply to stocks. For example, the impact of hyperinflation in Germany following World War I resulted in its currency becoming wallpaper.

Source: Investing Answers