Meaning & use
hardcover
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A book whose pages are attached to a stiff board cover rather than a flexible paper one.
Grammar: Contrasts with paperback: she bought the hardcover, not the paperback.
Patterns
- in hardcover
- a hardcover of something
The novel came out first as a hardcover and later as a paperback.
I paid more for the hardcover because I wanted it to last.
Their shelves were packed with old hardcovers.
adjectivebefore a noun
Describing a book printed with a stiff, firm cover.
Grammar: Goes before the noun: a hardcover edition.
Patterns
- a hardcover edition
- a hardcover copy
The shop only stocks the hardcover edition.
He gave her a hardcover copy of the atlas.
A hardcover book survives a school bag much better.
Word forms
| plural | hardcovers |
|---|
Common combinations
- hardcover edition
- The hardcover edition has a gold spine.
- in hardcover
- The memoir is available in hardcover this autumn.
- hardcover book
- A hardcover book makes a better gift than a flimsy one.
- hardcover bestseller
- It topped the hardcover bestseller list for weeks.
- hardcover and paperback
- The title is sold in both hardcover and paperback.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hardback
- Hardback is the more common British word, while hardcover is the usual American one.
- cloth-bound
- Cloth-bound describes the covering material specifically, whereas hardcover only tells you the cover is stiff.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: hardcover or hard copy?
hardcover vs hard copy
Hard copy means a printed version of a digital file and says nothing about the stiffness of a book's cover.
Practice
The publisher released the novel first as a _____, then months later as a cheaper paperback.
Choose one answer.
A hardcover is the stiff-bound first edition that usually comes before a paperback. Softcover is another word for paperback, so it would not contrast with it.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hardcover”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.