- a book or edition with covers made of flexible card, sold relatively cheaply
Compare hardback
- of or denoting a paperback or publication of paperbacks
- to publish in paperback
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
pa•per•back /ˈpeɪpɚˌbæk/USA pronunciation
n.
adj. [before a noun]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- a book bound in a flexible paper cover: [countable]paperbacks on every imaginable topic.[uncountable;
in + ~]That dictionary is now available in paperback.
adj. [before a noun]
- (of a book) bound in a flexible paper cover.
- of or relating to paperbacks:a paperback book club.
pa•per•back
(pā′pər bak′),USA pronunciation n.
adj.
- a book bound in a flexible paper cover, often a lower-priced edition of a hardcover book.
adj.
- (of a book) bound in a flexible paper cover:a paperback edition of Orwell's novel.
- of, for, or pertaining to paperbacks:a paperback bookstore.Cf. hardcover.
- paper + back1 1895–1900
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
paperback /ˈpeɪpəˌbæk/ n
'paperback' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
book
- dime novel
- hardback
- magazine
- soft-cover
- bodice ripper
- cahier
- dump
- hardbound
- hardcover
- mass market paperback
- pocketbook
- quality paperback
- tie
- trade book
- trade paperback
- softback
- softbound
- spin-off
- subsidiary rights