Cardboard Meaning
/ˈkɑːdbɔːd/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA wood-based material resembling heavy paper, used in the manufacture of boxes, cartons and signs.
nounSomething flat or insubstantial.
Sentence Examples
Outside the school, she saw people with no homes living in cardboard boxes.
Prepare five postcard sized pieces of cardboard.
Everything we owned was neatly packed in cardboard boxes.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The fragile glassware was packed inside a sturdy ____ box for shipping.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The package was delivered in a large and sturdy ____ box today city.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree English card English board English cardboard From card + board.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"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:
"The thing really looked quite cardboard."
— 1973, Journal of Black Poetry, number 17, page 27:
"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:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The fragile glassware was packed inside a sturdy ____ box for shipping.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The package was delivered in a large and sturdy ____ box today city.