paperback

From paper +‎ back, a shortening of the older term paper-backed book.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪ.pə.bæk/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪ.pɚˌbæk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

paperback (plural paperbacks)

1. A book with flexible binding.

• pocketbook (US), livre de poche (French contexts)

• trade paperback

paperback (not comparable)

1. (of a book) Having flexible binding.

• paperbacked, paperbound, softcovered

paperback (third-person singular simple present paperbacks, present participle paperbacking, simple past and past participle paperbacked)

1. (transitive, publishing) To issue or publish (a book) in a paperback edition.
   • 2009, J. Adamson, Max Reinhardt: A Life in Publishing, page 71:

     Max was anticipating paperbacking The Bodley Head's books in house rather than licensing the paperback rights to a third party, like Penguin, which reduced his royalties and might eventually lose him authors to vertical publishers.

• “paperback”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Borrowed from English paperback.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpeː.pərˌbɛk/, [ˈpeː.pəɹˌbɛk], [ˈpeː.pɚˌbɛk]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pa‧per‧back

paperback m (plural paperbacks, diminutive paperbackje n)

1. a paperback

paperback (not comparable)

1. paperback

• IPA^(key): [ˈpejperbek]

paperback m inan (relational adjective paperbackový)

1. paperback

• “paperback”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025