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dead letter
noun
1
: something that has lost its force or authority without being formally abolished
2
: a letter that is undeliverable and unreturnable by the post office
Examples of dead letter in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Those have been turned into a dead letter by the Republic.
—Gregory Makoff, Fortune, 9 Mar. 2024
But impeachment, once seen as perhaps the most serious check on corruption and abuse of power developed by the founders, now looks in danger of becoming a constitutional dead letter, just another weapon in today’s bitter, tit-for-tat partisan wars.
—Peter Baker, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2024
Advertisement Before the bill turned into an apparent dead letter, Reps. Sara Jacobs and Juan Vargas of San Diego were critical of the proposal.
—Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Feb. 2024
Forget takings — Congress could render any part of the Constitution a dead letter by repealing or modifying the statutes that empower courts to provide remedies.
—Rob Johnson, National Review, 27 Jan. 2024
Many historians believed that provision — Section 3 of the 14th Amendment — became a dead letter after Congress adopted amnesty acts for ex-Confederates in 1872 and 1898.
—David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2023
That includes judges who recently ruled on cases involving January 6 sympathizers and concluded that Section Three was now a dead letter.
—Matt Ford, The New Republic, 13 Aug. 2023
Sign up His deal is already a dead letter in the upper chamber.
—Grace Segers, The New Republic, 14 June 2023
That made the Comstock Act a dead letter until last June when a very different set of justices overturned Roe in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health.
—Todd J. Gillman, Dallas News, 12 May 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dead letter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1627, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near dead letter
Cite this Entry
“Dead letter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dead%20letter. Accessed 8 Jun. 2024.
Kids Definition
dead letter
noun1
: something that has lost its force or authority without being abolished
2
: a letter that cannot be delivered or returned by the post office
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