hardcover

hardcover — noun

1. a book whose outer casing is made from thick, rigid material such as cardboard o

1.nounB1
Definition

a book whose outer casing is made from thick, rigid material such as cardboard or cloth, making it stronger than a paperback

Example

Vikram prefers buying hardcovers because they last longer than paperbacks.

prefer + hardcovers for durability

The library kept the old hardcovers on the top shelf for reference.

Common collocations
  • first-edition hardcover
  • signed hardcover
  • in hardcover
  • out in hardcover
Synonyms
  • hardback

    slightly more common in British English, but otherwise identical in meaning

  • casebound

    a technical term used in bookbinding; less common in everyday speech

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

a hardcover

hardcovers

in hardcover

Common Mistakes

I bought the hard cover of that novel.
I bought the hardcover of that novel.
'hardcover' is written as one word, not two.

hardcover — adjective

Word family

  • hardback
    nounB2
  • paperback
    nounA2
  • softcover
    nounB2
  • casebound
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Hardcover and hardback are largely interchangeable in most contexts, with hardcover being the more common term in the US publishing industry and hardback slightly more frequent in British English. Clothbound specifically refers to a hardcover book whose outer material is cloth rather than paper or leather, making it a subset of hardcovers. Casebound is a technical term from bookbinding that describes a book whose pages are attached to a stiff outer case before the cover material is added; it is rarely used in everyday conversation. For example: 'I bought the hardcover edition because I want it to last for years' vs. 'The clothbound version is more expensive but looks beautiful on a shelf.'

hardbackclothboundcasebound

Common collocations

Nouns

  • hardcover edition
  • hardcover book
  • hardcover copy
  • hardcover version

Phrases

  • hardcover and paperback
  • available in hardcover
  • published in hardcover

Prepositions

  • in hardcover
  • as a hardcover

Etymology

Old EnglishOld FrenchEnglish

Hardcover was formed by combining the English words 'hard' (from Old English 'heard', meaning firm or solid) and 'cover' (from Old French 'covrir', meaning to conceal or protect). The term appeared in the early 20th century to describe books with rigid covers, competing with the older word 'hardback', which dates from the late 19th century.