paperwork
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
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).
Register: slang
Where it’s used:
Used
American English
Examples
to have bad paperwork
Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).
Common questions
What does “paperwork” mean?
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).
Is “paperwork” formal or informal?
paperwork is generally slang.