Meaning & use
pamphlet
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Meanings
nouncountable
A small, thin booklet or leaflet giving information or arguments about one subject.
Grammar: Countable: a pamphlet; plural pamphlets; usually unbound or stapled, not hardbound.
Patterns
- a pamphlet on/about something
- hand out pamphlets
- publish a pamphlet
The clinic gives out a pamphlet on vaccination schedules.
He wrote a pamphlet arguing for cheaper bus fares.
nouncountable
A short publication intended to persuade readers about a political, religious, or social issue.
Grammar: Countable; often polemical in tone, unlike a neutral brochure.
Patterns
- a political pamphlet
- a propaganda pamphlet
- issue a pamphlet
During the election, volunteers distributed a political pamphlet.
The pamphlet attacked the new law in blunt language.
Word forms
| plural | pamphlets |
|---|
Common combinations
- information pamphlet
- Read the information pamphlet before taking the medicine.
- hand out pamphlets
- They handed out pamphlets near the station entrance.
- a pamphlet on healthy eating
- The school sent home a pamphlet on healthy eating.
- political pamphlet
- The archive preserves a nineteenth-century political pamphlet.
- free pamphlet
- A free pamphlet explains how to register to vote.
Synonyms and how they differ
- leaflet
- Usually a single sheet or folded page; a pamphlet is slightly longer and more substantial.
- brochure
- Often glossy and promotional; a pamphlet may argue a case rather than advertise.
- booklet
- A small book, more neutral and often longer than a pamphlet.
Opposites
Word family
- pamphleteer noun
- A writer of pamphlets, especially political ones.
- pamphleteering noun
- The activity of writing and distributing pamphlets.
Commonly confused: pamphlet or brochure?
pamphlet vs brochure
A brochure usually promotes a product, service, or place; a pamphlet often informs or argues.
Practice
Choose the best word: “The nurse gave me a short ____ explaining side effects.”
Choose one answer.
A short information sheet fits pamphlet; an encyclopedia or novel is too long, and a ledger is for accounts.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pamphlet”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.