junk mail

Definition of junk mail

: unsolicited mail that consists mainly of promotional materials, catalogs, and requests for donations

Examples of junk mail in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Good-natured, intelligent and untidy, Nye’s mother never paid much attention to stacks of catalogues, junk mail and crumbs, said Nye. — Washington Post, "Trash has long been treasure for poet Naomi Shihab Nye," 15 Apr. 2020 Many people just don’t check their mail on a regular basis, or toss the census mailers aside as junk mail. — Dan Kopf, Quartz, "Coronavirus could exacerbate the US census’ undercount of people of color," 22 Apr. 2020 Most consumers assume these notices are junk mail and throw them away. — Washington Post, "Credit card benefits for travelers are vanishing. Here’s what to do about it.," 29 Jan. 2020 For one thing, your state's lax attitude toward privacy could be adding to your pile of junk mail. — Annie White, Car and Driver, "DMVs Can (And Do) Collect and Sell Your Personal Data," 4 Apr. 2020 Many of the form letters voters receive look like junk mail and aren't even read, this side says. — Stephen Koff, cleveland.com, "As Supreme Court hears voting case, partisans argue their sides outside (video)," 10 Jan. 2018 In the weeks that followed, Husseini began receiving the odd junk mail. — BostonGlobe.com, "Junk mail alerted woman her home was stolen - The Boston Globe," 29 Nov. 2019 At its peak, junk mail was considered a scourge and viewed with some of the same contempt that is reserved for online ads today. — Heather Kelly, Washington Post, "You’ve got snail mail: Targeted online ads are now literally following you home," 30 Jan. 2020 Today, people dutifully toss their used water bottles, tuna cans, pasta sauce jars, broken-down Amazon boxes, and junk mail into the recycling bin, diverting it from the trash. — Tracey Lindeman, Fortune, "Recycling hasn’t changed in years, but America is on the cusp of a reckoning," 29 Jan. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'junk mail.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

26 May 2020

Cite this Entry

“Junk mail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/junk%20mail. Accessed 7 Jun. 2020.

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