Word.ws English Dictionary

paper maché

UK/ˌpeɪ.pəˈmaʃ.eɪ/

paper maché is the alternative form of papier-mâché.

Meaning of papier-mâché

Noun

papier-mâché (uncountable)

  1. A composite material created by pulping paper or layering paper strips with an adhesive such as glue, starch or paste, which dries to form a durable, lightweight and moldable substance.
    • She sat completely alone at the very back of the sea-themed restaurant, amid papier-mâché starfish and plastic shrimp.2002, Zadie Smith, The Autograph Man, Penguin Books (2003), page 236

See all 3 meanings of papier-mâché

Forms of paper maché

third-person singular presentpaper machés
present participlepaper machéing
past participlepaper machéd
pastpaper machéd
past participlepaper machéed
pastpaper machéed

Origin of paper maché

Influenced by the English cognate paper.

Words that rhyme with paper maché

Questions about paper maché

What is paper maché the alternative form of?
Paper maché is the alternative form of papier-mâché.
How do you pronounce paper maché?
Paper maché is pronounced /ˌpeɪ.pəˈmaʃ.eɪ/ (UK).

Words near paper maché in the dictionary

  1. paper launches
  2. paper mache
  3. paper machee
  4. paper machine
  5. paper machines
  6. paper maché
  7. paper mill
  8. paper mills
  9. paper money
  10. paper mulberries
  11. paper mulberry

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: paper maché (page history and authors); papier-mâché (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “paper maché.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/paper_mach%C3%A9. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.