anonymous letter
11
3.9
- noun
- /əˈnɑːnɪməs ˈlɛtər/
:
carta anónima
- I went there in response to an anonymous letter.
And whilst I'm off, an anonymous letter goes to the force and to Manchester Evening News.
- And whilst I'm off, an anonymous letter goes to the force and to Manchester Evening News.
- I had letters off various staff saying no, anonymous letters, the same.
- And as of this absurd anonymous letter, you know, trying to frame her for the things that he had done and started kind of showing that he was like a real psychopath.
Examples
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"Actually," said Yang slowly, "I received an anonymous letter a few days ago, and I've been wondering how to handle it."
Fiction book (2000) -
You received two anonymous letters.
Academic text (1994) -
Did he say anything to you about anonymous letters?
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Or we send her an anonymous letter from his other family.
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What can you find from an anonymous letter?
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I got an anonymous letter.
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Have you received any anonymous letters?
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Listening will usually help more than writing an anonymous letter.
Blog text (15) -
We received an anonymous letter pre-9/11 from someone in the Bridgeview community, Chicago's Palestinian neighborhood.
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The office received an anonymous letter that sparked a police investigation.
How Personal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a letter sent without indicating the sender's name or identity' is directly and transparently derived from the constituents 'anonymous' (identity not known) + 'letter' (a written message). This compositional structure is straightforward, common across languages, and follows normal adjective + noun semantics, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Anonymous letter comes from the simple image of a letter with no name on it. Someone wrote the note but did not sign it, so the writer stayed hidden. So it means 'a letter sent without the sender's name'.