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 boldest space is the mudroom-office hybrid, which Kate covered in a moiré-like burgundy-and-blush Joss & Main wallpaper and outfitted with a white desk her husband fashioned from two IKEA cabinets. —Morgan Goldberg, Architectural Digest, 11 Sep. 2024

Chasing Paper Stripes Away, $45 While a busy pattern like these stripes can help camouflage a unit, a wallpaper’s proper placement is the difference between a polished setup and one that looks unkempt. —Kelsey Mulvey, Sunset Magazine, 23 Aug. 2024

Verb

My mom also did some work inside the house, like wallpapering the bathrooms. —Angela Andaloro, Peoplemag, 2 Sep. 2024

Mine featured walls wallpapered with lilac clusters; a wallpapered ceiling with a different, multi-colored floral design; a lilac-colored carpet; and curtains with a white and lilac enlarged wicker pattern. —Devorah Lev-Tov, Travel + Leisure, 19 July 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