memo

noun

ˈme-(ˌ)mō 

plural memos

: a usually brief written message or report : memorandum

Use headlines, bullets, and lists to organize the memo and the proposal.

—Inc. Magazine

When your boss asks you to find a memo you wrote a year ago, it's hard to remember what you named it.

—Susan Kelley

Phrases

get the memo

informal + often humorous

: to hear about or become aware of something generally known

—typically used in negative constructions to point to someone's surprising lack of awareness, to say that something did not happen as expected, etc.

Officials often warn tourists not to enter the water, but several tourists searching for that perfect Instagram photo apparently did not get the memo.

—The San Francisco Chronicle

The calendar may say only five more days until fall, but mother nature did not get the memo. It is going to be hot and feel even hotter over the next couple of days.

—Carrie Duncan

You're not still wearing those acid-washed jeans, are you? Tube socks and shorts? … OK, so no one told you. You didn't get the memo. Those things went out with neckties the size of small landing strips.

—Christine Keating

It was expected to be a five-set test of endurance … But, Edberg apparently did not get the memo because he just dominated Courier and captured his first- ever U.S. Open title with a straight set triumph at the National Tennis Center in New York.

—Van Earl Wright

Synonyms of memo

• letter
• epistle

Examples of memo in a Sentence

He sent a memo to the staff.

a long series of memos between the two authors collaborating on the book

Recent Examples on the Web

The new rules went into effect for the 72nd Miss Universe pageant in 2023, according to an internal memo obtained by The National. —Tabitha Parent, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025

But Taneka Bowles and Kiya Tomlin didn’t get the memo about staying in the background (and both are literally going beyond the bleachers, as Bowles Instagram name accurately describes). —Kimberly Wilson, Essence, 29 Oct. 2025

State Attorney General Jason Miyares rushed into the fray on Monday with a memo arguing that Democrats had not displayed their proposal long enough in advance of the special session called to pass it. —David Weigel, semafor.com, 29 Oct. 2025

The Democratic strategists who have chewed over their party’s unpopularity in memo after memo since last November pine for an authentic tribune of the working class. —Molly Ball, Time, 29 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1705, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing memo

• counter-memo

Rhymes for memo

• acknow
• aglow
• ago
• airglow
• aloe
• altho
• although
• ammo
• backflow
• backhoe
• banjo
• barbeau

Kids Definition

memo

noun

ˈmem-ō 

plural memos

: memorandum