paperwork

• paper work, paper-work

From paper +‎ work.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪ.pɚˌwɝk/, /ˈpeɪ.pɚ.wɚk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

paperwork (usually uncountable, plural paperworks)

1. (uncountable) Routine work involving written documents.

   do paperwork

2. (uncountable) Written documents.
   • 2016 September 1, Ellie Kaufman, “University of Kentucky sues student newspaper over sexual assault case”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     The source stated that the alleged victims wanted the paperwork released after the settlement, but with names and identifiers removed.

3. (uncountable, hyperbolic, also figurative) Excessive paperwork, busy work, red tape.
4. (uncountable, US, prison slang) 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).

   to have bad paperwork ― to be charged with sex-related offenses or to likely be an informant

5. (countable) A work in paper.
   • 1599, “Prov[erbs] 14. 3. In the mouth a foole is the rod of pride.”, in Master [Hugh] Broughtons Letters, […] Answered in Their Kind, London: […] [Felix Kingston for] Iohn Wolfe, →OCLC, section 9, page 32:

     Greatly you haue boaſted of, and much threatned theſe two places, (for euery later paperwork of yours is but a Tautology of the former) […]

   • 1978 March, Robert Flynn Johnson, “History of Experimentation in Paper”, in Paulette Long, Robert Levering, editors, Paper—Art & Technology: The History and Methods of Fine Papermaking with a Gallery of Contemporary Paper Art, San Francsico, Calif.: World Print Council, published 1979, 2nd printing (1981), →ISBN, “Experimental Approaches to Paper in Art: A Panel Discussion” section, page 88, column 1:

     However, except for few experimental paperworks by Jackson Pollock on paper made by Douglass Howell and occasional prints, usually woodcuts or wood engravings on Japanese paper, it is only in the late 1950s and early 1960s that editions of prints on beautiful handmade papers began appearing, published by Tatyana Grosman at the Universal Limited Art Editions on Long Island.

   • 1986, Jane Glaubinger, “Note”, in Paper Now: Bent, Molded, and Manipulated, Cleveland, Oh.: The Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, →ISBN, copyright page:

     In listing dimensions for the paperworks, height precedes width, followed by depth; and dimensions for multi-unit pieces are for the entire work.

   • 1989 March 30, “Gallery 410”, in Connector, Lowell, Mass.: University of Lowell, page 8, column 3:

     Rob Moore is nationally and internationally known for his painting and for his paperworks.

   • 1998, Michael Durgin, editor, Hand Papermaking, volumes 13–14, Washington, D.C.: Hand Papermaking, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 40, column 1:

     His [Joseph Roberson’s] cast sculptural paperworks have been exhibited extensively in the United States, as well as in Thailand and Vietnam.

   • 1999, UK Fine Press Book Fair, Catalogue of Exhibitors: Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, 13–14 November 1999, [Lastingham, North Yorkshire]: Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association, →OCLC, page 18:

     Having practised as a sculptor and ceramicist for many years, I became more and more interested in paperworks and artist’s books.

   • 2020 May 5, Robert V Angel-Little, “The Resignation and Aftermath”, in Innocence Lost, Conneaut Lake, Pa.: Page Publishing, Inc., →ISBN:

     Please wait for me outside, I’ll need to carry all these paperworks to my house.

   • 2020 November 26, Imogen Racz, quoting Mikey Cuddihy, British Art of the Long 1980s: Diverse Practices, Exhibitions and Infrastructures‎^[2], London; New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, →ISBN:

     I opened the drawers, and there were all these paper maquettes for larger folded paperworks.

• administrativia
• administrivia

• “paperwork”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “paperwork” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2025.

• workpaper