Dictionary

cardboard en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɑɹˌbɔɹd/ (US)
• /ˈkɑːdbɔːd/ (UK)
• /ˈkɑɹdˌbɔɹd/ (US)
• (US) audio

Etymology

From card + board.

Meanings

1. Made of or resembling cardboard.
   • MUMMER 3 pulls out an inflated cushion with a very cardboard crown on it. 2001, Liz Lochead, “Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off”, in Cairns Craig, Randall Stevenson, editors, Twentieth-Century Scottish Drama, Edinburgh: Canongate Books, →ISBN, page 501:
   • The thing really looked quite cardboard. 1973, Journal of Black Poetry, number 17, page 27:
2. (figuratively) Flat or flavorless.
   • […]a conventional historical drama -- one of those event-crammed sagas featuring a beautiful, plucky heroine, a mysterious, elusive lover and a cardboard supporting cast of thousands. 1999 November 2, Michiko Kakutani, “Books of The Times: A Single Girl Takes On the California Frontier”, in The New York Times (E section), New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 7:
   • The worst of the thing, however, is that the enormity, such as it is, happens to be of a very cardboard and tinsel character. 1868, Arthur William A'Beckett, “Painted Ships and Painted Oceans”, in The Tomahawk, page 114:
   • While Lensky’s character is quite cardboard, Onegin’s manipulations and lack of ability to call off the duel because he fears society’s jibes, Lensky’s youth and naivety, and Tatiana’s reaction to the duel lend the event its gravity. 2008, Katya Hokanson, Writing at Russia's Border, page 122:

cardboard en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɑɹˌbɔɹd/ (US)
• /ˈkɑːdbɔːd/ (UK)
• /ˈkɑɹdˌbɔɹd/ (US)
• (US) audio

Etymology

From card + board.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A wood-based material resembling heavy paper, used in the manufacture of boxes, cartons and signs.
2. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) Something flat or insubstantial.
   • In my experience, one of the most vital times in the life of a piece of fiction is when a character begins to speak, timidly and softly, in one's head. Honest and true books get written when the author feels free to coax and invite that character in. If the author's response to that small voice is instead to submit it to a test: "Are you: black/white/gay/straight/male/female/Christian/Jewish/old/young/politically correct" the character will probably turn around and leave or else turn into cardboard. 1980 February 9, Andrea Loewenstein, “James Baldwin and His Critics”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 28, page 10:
   • According to these keyboard warriors, the young men and women who survived the shooting are part of a big hoax, are liars, are mere cardboard cutouts – “crisis actors” who roam the country looking for mass shootings from which to promote their anti-gun message – all being pushed forward by the giant liberal machine that is Hillary Clinton’s robot attack army. 2018 February 21, Jeff Pearlman, “Parkland students, ignore the idiots”, in CNN:
3. (countable, uncountable) Synonym of African nutmeg (“Pycnanthus angolensis”).

Forms

Deriveds

cardboarding · cardboard cut-out · cardboarded · cardboardy · cardboard city · cardboard cutout · corrugated cardboard · cardboard box

Relateds

paperboard

Synonyms

African nutmeg

Translations (111)

km ការតុង (material resembling heavy paper) · vi các tông (material resembling heavy paper) · nv naaltsoos ntłʼizí (material resembling heavy paper) · mn ᠺᠠᠷᠲ᠋ᠣᠨ (material resembling heavy paper) · ja 段ボール (material resembling heavy paper) · ps مقوا (material resembling heavy paper) · fi kartonki (material resembling heavy paper) · ko 판지 (material resembling heavy paper) · mn картон (material resembling heavy paper) · cmn 紙板 /纸板 (material resembling heavy paper) · ca cartró (material resembling heavy paper) · ta அட்டை (material resembling heavy paper) · th กระดาษแข็ง (material resembling heavy paper) · sv papp (material resembling heavy paper) · nn papp (material resembling heavy paper) · hy կարտոն (material resembling heavy paper) · ast cartón (material resembling heavy paper) · ba ҡатырға (material resembling heavy paper) · fi pahvi (material resembling heavy paper) · tg картон (material resembling heavy paper) · nl karton (material resembling heavy paper) · bg карто́н (material resembling heavy paper) · lt kartonas (material resembling heavy paper) · ja 板紙 (material resembling heavy paper) · mn цаасан хавтас (material resembling heavy paper) · fo papp (material resembling heavy paper) · cy cardbord (material resembling heavy paper) · ht katon (material resembling heavy paper) · el χαρτόνι (material resembling heavy paper) · uz karton (material resembling heavy paper) · es chapadur (material resembling heavy paper) · ro mucava (material resembling heavy paper) · kea papelon (material resembling heavy paper) · io kartono (material resembling heavy paper) · id karton (material resembling heavy paper) · de Pappe (material resembling heavy paper) · mn ᠴᠠᠭᠠᠰᠤᠨ ᠬᠠᠪᠲᠠᠰᠤ (material resembling heavy paper) · bo ཤོག་པང (material resembling heavy paper) · hu karton (material resembling heavy paper) · tk karton (material resembling heavy paper) · it cartone (material resembling heavy paper) · tr mukavva (material resembling heavy paper) · nb papp (material resembling heavy paper) · is pappi (material resembling heavy paper) · ka მუყაო (material resembling heavy paper) · ur گَتّا (material resembling heavy paper) · sl lepenka (material resembling heavy paper) · ar وَرَق مُقَوَّى (material resembling heavy paper) · izh papka (material resembling heavy paper) · ug كارتون (material resembling heavy paper) · de Karton (material resembling heavy paper) · yi קאַרטאָן (material resembling heavy paper) · ms karton (material resembling heavy paper) · vi giấy bồi (material resembling heavy paper) · fr carton (material resembling heavy paper) · be кардо́н (material resembling heavy paper) · az karton (material resembling heavy paper) · gl cartón (material resembling heavy paper) · mn хатуу цаас (material resembling heavy paper) · ga cairtchlár (material resembling heavy paper) · es cartulina (material resembling heavy paper) · mk картон (material resembling heavy paper) · ar كَرْتُون (material resembling heavy paper) · gd cairt-bhòrd (material resembling heavy paper) · eo kartono (material resembling heavy paper) · fy karton (material resembling heavy paper) · sh ка̀рто̄н (material resembling heavy paper) · lv kartons (material resembling heavy paper) · lb Kartrong (material resembling heavy paper) · pl tektura (material resembling heavy paper) · lo ກະດາດແຂງ (material resembling heavy paper) · uk карто́н (material resembling heavy paper) · mn ᠬᠠᠲᠠᠭᠤ ᠴᠠᠭᠠᠰᠤ (material resembling heavy paper) · ms kadbod (material resembling heavy paper) · tr karton (material resembling heavy paper) · sk karton (material resembling heavy paper) · et kartong (material resembling heavy paper) · mi pepamārō (material resembling heavy paper) · yue 紙皮 /纸皮 (material resembling heavy paper) · sl karton (material resembling heavy paper) · ka კარტონი (material resembling heavy paper) · he קַרְטוֹן (material resembling heavy paper) · ja 厚紙 (material resembling heavy paper) · hy ստվարաթուղթ (material resembling heavy paper) · ru карто́н (material resembling heavy paper) · kk картон (material resembling heavy paper) · cs karton (material resembling heavy paper) · es cartón (material resembling heavy paper) · fa-ira کارْتُن (material resembling heavy paper) · ky картон (material resembling heavy paper) · ro carton (material resembling heavy paper) · bn পিচবোর্ড (material resembling heavy paper) · et papp (material resembling heavy paper) · tt катырга (material resembling heavy paper) · pt papelão (material resembling heavy paper) · fa-ira مُقَوَّا (material resembling heavy paper) · dz ཤོག་པང (material resembling heavy paper) · tt картон (material resembling heavy paper) · da pap (material resembling heavy paper) · sh kàrtōn (material resembling heavy paper) · da karton (material resembling heavy paper) · sv kartong (material resembling heavy paper) · be карто́н (material resembling heavy paper) · my စက္ဏူထူ (material resembling heavy paper) · unm chinkalsit pampil (material resembling heavy paper) · ml കാർഡ്ബോർഡ് (material resembling heavy paper) · hi गत्ता (material resembling heavy paper) · sq karton (material resembling heavy paper) · cmn 硬紙板 /硬纸板 (material resembling heavy paper) · pl karton (material resembling heavy paper) · vi bìa cứng (material resembling heavy paper)

wikidata: Q389782