wallpaper

1 of 2

noun

wall·​pa·​per ˈwȯl-ˌpā-pər 

1

: decorative paper for the walls of a room

2

: the background image or set of images displayed on a computer screen

After becoming a member, the user gets to design a homepage with his or her choice of pictures, music, wallpaper, writing, and information making each page unique.

—Fahiym Ratcliffe

wallpaper

2 of 2

verb

wallpapered; wallpapering; wallpapers

transitive verb

: to provide the walls of (a room) with wallpaper

intransitive verb

: to put wallpaper on a wall

Examples of wallpaper in a Sentence

Noun

The wallpaper began to peel.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The area includes a Kohler double sink basin, custom Chelsea Textiles café curtains, Apothecary’s Garden wallpaper by C.F.A. Voysey, and ceramic ceiling lights by Schoolhouse Electric. —David Foxley, Architectural Digest, 20 Nov. 2024

What seems like floral wallpaper (right) is actually an acoustically transparent fabric hiding the sound system for his home theater. —Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 7 Nov. 2024

Verb

Photo: Lifestyle Production The steel transitions from backsplash to wallpaper to ceiling. —Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 10 Oct. 2024

The drawing room had been wallpapered with pictures of huntsmen, onto whose faces the two eldest boys, Jacob and Wilhelm (born in 1785 and 1786, respectively), would cheekily pencil in beards. —Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1827, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1918, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Kids Definition

wallpaper

noun

wall·​pa·​per

ˈwȯl-ˌpā-pər

: decorative paper for covering the walls of a room

wallpaper verb