robocall

noun

ro·​bo·​call ˈrō-bō-ˌkȯl 

: a telephone call from an automated source that delivers a prerecorded message to a large number of people

robocall transitive verb

robocalled; robocalling; robocalls

Poor small-town America. During the last gasps of this fevered election, pollsters, zealous campaign foot soldiers and reporters are kicking down its doors, figuratively speaking, robocalling its citizens during suppertime …

—Doug Colligan

robocaller noun

plural robocallers

Now the only people who use the telephone are campaign robocallers and the phone company, dunning me to switch to their new wireless plan.

—Richard Brookhiser

robocalling noun

Business organizations have warned that legislative action against robocalling that defines the practice too broadly could prevent legitimate businesses from efficiently reaching their customers with relevant information.

—Colin A. Young

Examples of robocall in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These included deepfake robocalls from then-President Joe Biden promoting fraudulent views to New Hampshire voters before the state’s primary in January. —Leslie Katz, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025

But ironically, the robocall wasn’t the work of scammers or foreign propagandists. —PC Magazine, 8 July 2025

Americans got nearly 5 billion robocalls last month according to tracking by YouMail, a call screening and blocking service that tracks call volume. —Alix Martichoux, The Hill, 20 June 2025

In the first five months of the year, robocalls have gone up 11% when compared to the same period in 2024, the company’s latest analysis found. —Alix Martichoux, The Hill, 20 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

robot + -o- + call entry 2

First Known Use

1993, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for robocall

• aerosol
• alcohol
• arbitral
• basketball
• butanol
• cannonball
• carbinol
• catarrhal
• cortisol
• ethanol
• fireball
• gasohol