crank letter

American  

noun

1. a hostile or fanatical letter, often sent anonymously.

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crank letter Idioms  

1. Also, crank call. An irrational, fanatical, or hostile letter or telephone call. For example, The office was flooded with mail, including a lot of crank letters, or Harriet was upset enough by the crank calls to notify the police. This expression employs crank in the sense of “irrational person.” The first term dates from the mid-1900s, the variant from the 1960s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

crank letter

In his own way, he turned the crank letter into a literary form.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was considered just another crank letter and drew little attention for almost a month.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the belief that the "crank" letter is a phenomenon of definite interest both psychologically and socially, I am compiling a collection of representative specimens.

From Time Magazine Archive

Marines 2nd Division, A. E. F. New York City "We Were Suckers" Sirs: We cannot sign our names to this, but it is no crank letter.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was published by a tabloid newspaper as a sort of gag––a strange crank letter.

From The Mind Master by Burks, Arthur J.