Meanings
- uncountableThe hobby of collecting and displaying postage stamps and related items.
Synonyms: philately
- derogatoryfigurativelyuncountableusuallyCollection of items or information of no intrinsic value.
All science is either physics or stamp collecting.
a. 1937, attributed to Ernest Rutherford1 more example
He really changed the field of paleontology from the stamp-collecting type of science where you just catalog fossils.
2002 May 21, Michael Shermer (quoted), “Stephen Gould, 60”, in Los Angeles Times
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe hobby of collecting and displaying postage stamps and related items.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe collection and study of postage stamps
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Cite this entry
stamp collecting. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stamp%20collecting
“stamp collecting.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stamp%20collecting. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stamp collecting,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stamp%20collecting.
Source: stamp collecting on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.