sandpaper

S1A1N1D2P3A1P3E1R1
US/ˈsændˌpeɪpɚ/

noun

Strong paper coated with (traditionally) sand or (today) manufactured aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, or other abrasive material, used for smoothing and polishing.

“Near-synonym: emery paper”

Similar
sanding paperemery papersandsand down
Less commonScrabble 14
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounsandpaper (usually uncountable, plural sandpapers)

plural sandpapers

  1. uncountableusuallyStrong paper coated with (traditionally) sand or (today) manufactured aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, or other abrasive material, used for smoothing and polishing.

    Near-synonym: emery paper

    1 more example

    They like to finish it off with a piece of 600-grit sandpaper before cleaning and painting.

    Synonyms: sanding paper, emery paper

  2. countableusuallyA sheet of such paper.

    I need a scraper and a sandpaper over here.

verbsandpaper (third-person singular simple present sandpapers, present participle sandpapering, simple past and past participle sandpapered)

present singular third person sandpapers · participle present sandpapering · participle past sandpapered · past sandpapered

  1. transitiveTo polish or grind (a surface) with or as if with sandpaper.

    Synonyms: sand, sand down

Synonyms & antonyms

nounStrong paper coated with (traditionally) sand or (today) manufactured aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, or other abrasive material, used for smoothing and polishing.

Similar
sanding paperemery paper

verbTo polish or grind (a surface) with or as if with sandpaper.

Similar
sandsand down

More synonyms by meaning

nounstiff paper coated with powdered emery or sand

Similar
emery paper
Broader
abrasiveabradantabrasive material

verbrub with sandpaper

Similar
sand
Broader
smoothsmoothen
Also see
abrasive paperemery papersand

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From sand + paper.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans skuurpapier
  • skuurpapierpaper coated with abrasive material
Arabic وَرَق زُجَاج
  • وَرَق زُجَاج (waraq zujāj)paper coated with abrasive material
Bengali শিরিষ-কাগজ
  • শিরিষ-কাগজ (śiriś-kagoj)paper coated with abrasive material
Bulgarian шку́рка, шкуря
  • шку́рка (škúrka)paper coated with abrasive material
  • шкуря (škurja)to polish or grind a surface
Catalan paper de vidre, escatar
  • paper de vidrepaper coated with abrasive material
  • escatarto polish or grind a surface
Chinese Cantonese 砂紙 /砂纸
  • 砂紙 /砂纸 (saa¹ zi²)paper coated with abrasive material
Chinese Mandarin 砂紙 /砂纸, 砂紙片 /砂纸片
  • 砂紙 /砂纸 (shāzhǐ)paper coated with abrasive material
  • 砂紙片 /砂纸片a sheet
  • 用砂紙打磨 /用砂纸打磨 (yòng shāzhǐ dǎmó)to polish or grind a surface
  • 用砂紙拋光 /用砂纸抛光 (yòng shāzhǐ pāoguāng)to polish or grind a surface
Czech smirkový papír, brusný papír
  • smirkový papírpaper coated with abrasive material
  • brusný papírpaper coated with abrasive material
Danish sandpapir
  • sandpapirpaper coated with abrasive material
Dutch schuurpapier
  • schuurpapierpaper coated with abrasive material
Esperanto sablopapero
  • sablopaperopaper coated with abrasive material
Estonian abrasiivpaber, liivapaber
  • abrasiivpaberpaper coated with abrasive material
  • liivapaberpaper coated with abrasive material
  • lihvimislehta sheet
Finnish hiomapaperi, hioma-arkki
  • hiomapaperipaper coated with abrasive material
  • hioma-arkkia sheet
  • hiekkapaperia sheet
  • hioato polish or grind a surface
French papier de verre, papier à poncer
  • papier de verrepaper coated with abrasive material
  • papier à poncerpaper coated with abrasive material
  • poncerto polish or grind a surface
German Schleifpapier, Schmirgelpapier
  • Schleifpapierpaper coated with abrasive material
  • Schmirgelpapierpaper coated with abrasive material
  • Sandpapierpaper coated with abrasive material
  • Schleifpapierbogena sheet
  • abschleifento polish or grind a surface
  • abschmirgelnto polish or grind a surface
Greek γυαλόχαρτο
  • γυαλόχαρτο (gyalócharto)paper coated with abrasive material
Hebrew נְיַר לֶטֶשׁ
  • נְיַר לֶטֶשׁ (nyar létesh)paper coated with abrasive material
Hindi रेगमाल
  • रेगमाल (regmāl)paper coated with abrasive material
Hungarian csiszolópapír, dörzspapír
  • csiszolópapírpaper coated with abrasive material
  • dörzspapírpaper coated with abrasive material
  • smirglipaper coated with abrasive material
  • smirglipapírpaper coated with abrasive material
  • csiszolto polish or grind a surface
  • lecsiszolto polish or grind a surface
Icelandic sandpappír
  • sandpappírpaper coated with abrasive material
Indonesian ampelas, kertas abrasif
  • ampelaspaper coated with abrasive material
  • kertas abrasifpaper coated with abrasive material
Irish páipéar gainimh, páipéar scríobach
  • páipéar gainimhpaper coated with abrasive material
  • páipéar scríobachpaper coated with abrasive material
Italian carta vetrata, scartavetrare
  • carta vetratapaper coated with abrasive material
  • scartavetrareto polish or grind a surface
Japanese 研磨紙, サンドペーパー
  • 研磨紙 (kenmashi)paper coated with abrasive material
  • サンドペーパー (sandopēpā)paper coated with abrasive material
  • 紙鑢 (kamiyasuri)paper coated with abrasive material
Korean 사포, 사포로 닦다
  • 사포 (sapo)paper coated with abrasive material
  • 사포로 닦다 (sapo-ro dakda)to polish or grind a surface
Latin harenae charta
  • harenae chartapaper coated with abrasive material
Latvian smilšpapīrs, slīpēšanas loksne
  • smilšpapīrspaper coated with abrasive material
  • slīpēšanas loksnea sheet
Lithuanian švitrinis popierius, šlifavimo lakštas
  • švitrinis popieriuspaper coated with abrasive material
  • šlifavimo lakštasa sheet
Malay ampelas, kertas lelas
  • ampelaspaper coated with abrasive material
  • kertas lelaspaper coated with abrasive material
Māori pepa whakamaene
  • pepa whakamaenepaper coated with abrasive material
Norwegian slipe
  • slipeto polish or grind a surface
Norwegian Bokmål sandpapir, slipepapir
  • sandpapirpaper coated with abrasive material
  • slipepapirpaper coated with abrasive material
  • sandpapira sheet
  • slipearka sheet
Polish papier ścierny, szmergiel
  • papier ściernypaper coated with abrasive material
  • szmergielpaper coated with abrasive material
  • papier ściernya sheet
  • szmergiela sheet
  • szlifować papierem ściernymto polish or grind a surface
Portuguese lixa, lixa
  • lixapaper coated with abrasive material
  • lixaa sheet
  • lixarto polish or grind a surface
Romanian șmirghel, hârtie abrazivă
  • șmirghelpaper coated with abrasive material
  • hârtie abrazivăpaper coated with abrasive material
Russian нажда́чная бума́га, нажда́чка
  • нажда́чная бума́га (naždáčnaja bumága)paper coated with abrasive material
  • нажда́чка (naždáčka)paper coated with abrasive material
  • шку́рка (škúrka)paper coated with abrasive material
  • шлифова́льная бума́га (šlifoválʹnaja bumága)paper coated with abrasive material
  • лист (list)a sheet
  • шлифова́ть (šlifovátʹ)to polish or grind a surface
  • шку́рить (škúritʹ)to polish or grind a surface
Scottish Gaelic pàipear-gainmhich
  • pàipear-gainmhichpaper coated with abrasive material
Slovak brúsny papier
  • brúsny papierpaper coated with abrasive material
Spanish lija, papel de lija
  • lijapaper coated with abrasive material
  • papel de lijapaper coated with abrasive material
  • lijarto polish or grind a surface
Swahili msasa
  • msasapaper coated with abrasive material
Swedish sandpapper, slippapper
  • sandpapperpaper coated with abrasive material
  • slippapperpaper coated with abrasive material
  • sandpappera sheet
  • sliparka sheet
  • sandpapprato polish or grind a surface
Tagalog liha
  • lihapaper coated with abrasive material
Thai กระดาษทราย
  • กระดาษทราย (grà-dàat-saai)paper coated with abrasive material
Turkish zımpara, zımpara kağıdı
  • zımparapaper coated with abrasive material
  • zımpara kağıdıa sheet
Ukrainian нажда́чний папі́р
  • нажда́чний папі́р (naždáčnyj papír)paper coated with abrasive material
Urdu ریگ مال
  • ریگ مال (reg māl)paper coated with abrasive material
Vietnamese giấy nhám
  • giấy nhámpaper coated with abrasive material
Cite this entry
APA

sandpaper. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sandpaper

MLA

“sandpaper.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sandpaper. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sandpaper,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sandpaper.

Source: sandpaper on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.