wallpaper

noun wall·pa·per \ ˈwȯl-ˌpā-pər \

|Updated on: 17 Jun 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

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See wallpaper defined for kids

Examples of wallpaper in a Sentence

The wallpaper began to peel.

Recent Examples of wallpaper from the Web

Green ivy now hangs from the ceiling, and what was once a black back wall is now covered with a whimsical pink, forest green, and teal vine wallpaper.

— jean trinh, Los Angeles Magazine, "What to Expect at Ma’am Sir, Silver Lake’s Newest Filipino Restaurant and Bar," 31 May 2018
Tamara Day is known for her creative touches: Local art on the walls, open shelves in the kitchen, lighting fixtures with wow factor, and wallpaper everywhere.

— sarah gish, kansascity, "'Bargain Mansions' with Leawood mom Tamara Day gets second season on DIY Network | The Kansas City Star," 16 May 2018
Large wall planes colored blue, magenta, pink, yellow, and white run from the exteriors to the interiors, which are also characterized by similar colors and graphic tiles and wallpaper.

— lauren ro, Curbed, "Casa TEC 205 was designed by Moneo Brock," 15 May 2018
Drywall covers painted walls and flowered wallpaper.

— richard a. marini, San Antonio Express-News, "Dale Evans’ Uvalde home for sale — but needs tons of work," 25 Apr. 2018
Torn carpets and wallpaper lines the decks and bulkheads.

— Washington Post, "Ex-Yugo autocratic leader’s iconic yacht given new life," 23 May 2018
The Beastie Boys were the wallpaper music of my early 30s.

— doug maccash, NOLA.com, "New Orleans Jazz Fest 2018: Why Beck is like a fried baloney sandwich," 5 May 2018
The walls in the master bath are a vibrant blue wallpaper with a floral tone on tone pattern.

— joanne kempinger demski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Home's design elements hold meaning for Germantown family," 5 Apr. 2018
Like wallpaper, which is having a second coming of sorts.

— randi stevenson, chicagotribune.com, "My mom lives 2,000 miles away. Simple home projects bring us closer.," 29 Mar. 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

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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

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
Dinosaurs and superheroes stared down from gigantic movie posters wallpapering Luis Colindres’ Lincoln Square room.

— grace wong, RedEye Chicago, "Chicago illustrator and EDM artist REZZ build hypnotic world together in new comic book ‘Mass Manipulation’," 13 Oct. 2017
His bedroom is practically wallpapered in copies of the Declaration of Independence and scenes of crucial moments in the war.

— mike newall, Philly.com, "Touring the Revolution Museum with its biggest fan: 7-year-old Oliver | Mike Newall," 13 Apr. 2018
One bathroom is wallpapered in old New Yorker covers, and most of the kitchen counters are white laminate.

— noah buhayar, Bloomberg.com, "Buffett’s $11 Million Beach House Is Still on the Market," 27 Feb. 2018

First Known Use of wallpaper

1918

in the meaning defined at transitive sense

See Words from the same year

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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