snail mail

noun

1

informal : mail delivered by a postal system especially when contrasted with email : mail sense 1a

I avoid using e-mail to complain. I use the phone or old-fashioned snail mail.

—Arlene Silverman

2

informal : a nation's postal system : mail sense 2

The others have taken the traditional route: sending checks by snail mail.

—Stephen Gandel

Synonyms

• correspondence
• mail
• matter
• parcel post
• post [chiefly British]

Examples of snail mail in a Sentence

She still uses snail mail for paying bills.

I can be contacted by e-mail and snail mail.

Recent Examples on the Web

Be wary of mailbox communications: Bad actors may also try to scam you through snail mail. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 5 June 2025

Loan servicers will also send multiple notices — by email, snail mail or phone — to borrowers who are delinquent and increasingly at risk of going into default, Buchanan says. —Rachel Treisman, NPR, 23 Apr. 2025

If a question on astronomy or space is received either via email or snail mail, it will usually be forwarded to me for a response. —Joe Rao, Space.com, 25 Apr. 2025

Some people might consider snail mail subscription companies to be ancient history, which makes History By Mail somewhat ironic. —Ryan Johnston, CNBC, 8 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1982, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for snail mail

• airmail
• assail
• avail
• bewail
• blackmail
• cattail
• cocktail
• curtail
• derail
• detail
• dovetail
• email

Kids Definition

snail mail

noun

informal

1

: mail delivered by a postal system

2

: mail entry 1 sense 4