junk mail
- noun
- /dʒʌŋk meɪl/
- Every week, I sort through the pile of junk mail that fills my mailbox.
- get junk mail
- receive junk mail
- pile of junk mail
So if you haven't, maybe check your junk mail where it might be sitting.
- So if you haven't, maybe check your junk mail where it might be sitting.
- So I was getting all these junk mails, direct mail, like, not, not Instagram, not Facebook, right.
- And he says kipple is useless objects like junk mail or match folders you use after the last match, or gum wrappers or yesterday's homeo Pape.
Examples
-
Some of the junk mail caught her eye, but she was too tired.
Fiction book (1993) -
It was just junk mail, but I appreciate what you did.
-
I am getting so much junk mail to my house as well, everything.
-
I thought it was junk mail.
-
That figures, because the only thing he gets are local bills and junk mail.
-
I went back to my desk and read the junk mail that had come in the last few days.
Fiction book (1990) -
So I am going on a quest to rid my life of junk mail in all forms.
-
Amongst all that awful junk mail, there was something that was so lovely.
-
The amount of junk mail that accumulates in just a few days.
-
It's just junk mail.
Synonyms
Printed ads sent by post to possible customers
A paper advertisement sent to homes to promote a product
Email sent to many people that contains unwanted ads
Large amounts of email sent at once to many people, often ads or unwanted messages
How Unwanted
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'unwanted or unsolicited mail' is directly derivable from combining 'junk' (discarded, worthless or unwanted items) with 'mail' (postal items): it denotes mail that is worthless or unwanted. This noun–noun composition is a transparent, common pattern (seen across languages as 'undesired mail' / 'spam') and a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The phrase junk mail comes from comparing mail to junk, meaning worthless things people throw away. Imagine a mailbox full of useless ads and flyers, and that's why it means 'unwanted' advertising sent to many people.