Paperwork
//ˈpeɪ.pɚˌwɝk// noun, slang
noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Routine work involving written documents. uncountable, usually
"do paperwork"
- 2 work that involves handling papers: forms or letters or reports etc. wordnet
- 3 Written documents. uncountable, usually
"The source stated that the alleged victims wanted the paperwork released after the settlement, but with names and identifiers removed."
- 4 Excessive paperwork, busy work, red tape. also, excessive, figuratively, uncountable, usually
- 5 Court documents or pre-sentencing investigation reports detailing the prisoner's criminal history (usually in the context of discerning whether an inmate has been charged for sex-related offenses or is likely to be an informant). US, slang, uncountable, usually
"to have bad paperwork"
Show 1 more definition
- 6 A work in paper. countable, usually
"Greatly you haue boaſted of, and much threatned theſe two places, (for euery later paperwork of yours is but a Tautology of the former) […]"
Example
More examples"We were bogged down in a morass of paperwork."
Etymology
From paper + work.
Related phrases
More for "paperwork"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.