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

The ruling focused on Urth Access, Fire Data and their partners, which the FCC said collectively generated over 40% of student loan debt robocalls in October 2022. —Peter Ford, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025

No one wants endless robocalls and scams from telemarketers. —Julian Chokkattu, Wired News, 31 Aug. 2025

Last month, over 4.3 billion spam calls were made in the country, down 3.1% from the prior month, according to YouMail, which offers robocall blocking. —PC Magazine, 26 Aug. 2025

Indiana law prohibits robocalls unless the recipient gives permission, such as by opting in to the calls previously or asking callers to leave a message. —Marissa Meador, IndyStar, 19 Aug. 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