DM

1 of 3

noun

ˌdē-ˈem 

plural DMs

: a private message sent on social media to a specific individual or group

However, Sadie Stanley was ultimately cast as Kim, and Madelaine even sent her an encouraging DM about her new role.

—Kara Nesvig

DM verb

DMed; DMing; DMs

Women around the world DMed Robbie and Sarah saying how much the couple's love inspired them.

—Rebecca Jennings

DM

2 of 3

abbreviation (1)

deutsche mark

dm

3 of 3

abbreviation (2)

decimeter

Examples of DM in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

This keeps every post, pitch and DM coherent, letting a solo founder ship consistently instead of chasing shiny tactics every other week. —Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025

And where there’s a will, there’s a way—or in this case, an Instagram DM. —Laia Garcia-Furtado, Vogue, 24 June 2025

One woman asked a witch to cast a love spell on a man, only for the witch to DM her target and rat her out. —Meredith Wilshere, People.com, 22 June 2025

On Sunday night, after images of Singh at one of the concerts surfaced online, Drake took to Instagram, posting a screenshot of his DM history with Singh. —Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 16 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

direct message

First Known Use

Noun

2007, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

dm

1 of 2 abbreviation

decimeter

DM

2 of 2 abbreviation

1

dermatomyositis

2

diabetes mellitus

3

diastolic murmur

4

[Latin dystrophia myotonica] myotonic dystrophy