wallpaper

1 of 2

noun

wall·​pa·​per ˈwȯl-ˌpā-pər 

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

wallpaper

2 of 2

verb

wallpapered; wallpapering; wallpapers

transitive verb

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

intransitive verb

: to put wallpaper on a wall

Examples of wallpaper in a Sentence

Noun

The wallpaper began to peel.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

My spot was on the extreme left side, flush up against the wallpaper. —Jhumpa Lahiri, New Yorker, 30 June 2025

Some of the original wallpapers were scanned and reprinted, while headboards feature large-scale reproductions of watercolor landscapes by Sosthène Weis, the Luxembourgish painter whose works are on display at the National Museum of History and Art. —Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 28 June 2025

Verb

Following O’Keefe’s death, Read spent the first few months mourning and reminiscing about her relationship and trying to distract herself by wallpapering the house, cooking with her mother, and reading, Vanity Fair reported. —Jordana Comiter, People.com, 18 June 2025

Looking to unclog a drain, remove a stain, wallpaper a bathroom, or redesign a living room? —Steven Bertoni, Forbes.com, 16 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1827, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1918, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for wallpaper

• newspaper
• notepaper
• sandpaper
• skyscraper
• wastepaper
• caper
• paper
• raper
• scraper
• shaper
• taper
• vapor

Kids Definition

wallpaper

noun

wall·​pa·​per

ˈwȯl-ˌpā-pər

: decorative paper for covering the walls of a room

wallpaper verb