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 robocalls made a series of false claims about voting by mail, according to Attorney General Dana Nessel's Office. —Arpan Lobo, Freep.com, 2 Aug. 2025

Recommended by Our Editors Former President Biden called for a ban on AI impersonation after a robocall deepfaking his voice was used to discourage primary voters in New Hampshire. —PC Magazine, 8 July 2025

Last month averaged more than 1,800 robocalls per second. —Alix Martichoux, The Hill, 20 June 2025

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

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