cardboard

Definitions

1. A wood-based material resembling heavy paper, used in the manufacture of boxes, cartons and signs
2. A wood-based material resembling heavy paper, used in the manufacture of boxes, cartons and signs.
   countable, uncountable
3. Something flat or insubstantial
4. Something flat or insubstantial.
   countable, figuratively, uncountable
5. ↑ Walter Soroka, Illustrated Glossary of Packaging Terminology, p. 154
6. Made of or resembling cardboard; flat or flavorless

Equivalents

Examples

“In my experience⟳, one of the most vital times in the life of a piece of fiction is when a character begins to speak⟳, timidly and softly, in one's head. Honest and true books get⟳ written when the author feels free to coax and invite⟳ that character in. If the author's response to that small voice is instead to submit⟳ it to a test⟳: "Are you: black/white/gay/straight/male/female/Christian/Jewish/old/young/politically correct⟳" the character will probably turn⟳ around and leave⟳ or else turn⟳ into cardboard.”

“According to these keyboard warriors, the young men and women who survived the shooting are part of a big hoax, are liars, are mere cardboard cutouts – “crisis actors” who roam the country looking for mass shootings from which to promote⟳ their anti-gun message – all being pushed forward⟳ by the giant liberal machine that is Hillary Clinton’s robot attack army.”

CEFR level