paper loss
1
6.1
- noun
- /ˈpeɪpər lɔs/
- Specialized
:
pérdida en papel
- The company's stock dropped almost 50 percent in two days, causing paper loss of more than $140 million, and has not recovered.
- billion in paper losses
Examples
-
'A one-day paper loss of around $1 bn.'
-
Other investors paid as much as $122 a share for LinkedIn that day and were left with paper losses.
Blog text (10) -
But because sanctions have largely kept the country from developing its huge natural gas reserves, it will suffer only a paper loss; if Iran manages to export its gas in the future, it will receive less revenue than previously thought.
Academic text (2011) -
They decided to just sit tight, realizing that their losses were only paper losses so long as they didn't cash in.
-
If you had sold short 100 shares of eBay just a month ago, you would have a paper loss today of $12,000.
Antonyms
How Real
7
3.0
- Specialized
1
6.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'an unrealized loss' depends on a figurative use of 'paper' meaning 'on records/on paper' rather than the literal material, so the connection to 'loss' is partially compositional but requires knowledge of this extended use. A B1 learner who only knows 'paper' (physical sheets) and 'loss' will likely not predict the financial, unrealized meaning without prior exposure, making it partially but not fully transparent.
Etymology
Paper loss comes from the simple image of a loss shown on paper — a number written in an account or record that has gone down. Because nothing has been sold, the loss is only 'on paper' and not a real loss of money.