paperback

Word family

• hardback
  nounB1
• hardcover
  nounB1
• softcover
  nounB2
• paper
  nounA1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name a physical book format, but they sit in different registers and refer to slightly different things. 'Paperback' is the everyday word in both British and American English for a book bound in flexible card. 'Softcover' is the more formal or technical American term, often used by publishers and librarians instead of 'paperback'. 'Hardback' (or 'hardcover' in American English) is the direct opposite — a book with a stiff board cover, usually published first and at a higher price. 'Pocket book' is an older term for a small, cheap paperback meant to be carried around. In a bookshop you'd say 'Do you have it in paperback?'; a publisher's catalogue might list the same title as 'softcover, $12.99'; a collector might prefer the 'hardback first edition'.

Common collocations

Etymology

Formed in English in the late 19th century by combining 'paper' with 'back', literally 'a book whose back (spine and cover) is paper'. The format itself became widely popular in the 1930s, when British publisher Penguin began selling cheap, mass-produced paperbacks at the price of a packet of cigarettes, making books affordable to ordinary readers.