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fan mail

American  

noun

  1. fan letters collectively.

fan mail British  

noun

  1. mail sent to a famous person, such as a pop musician or film star, by admirers

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of fan mail

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

After acting she worked at Disney Studios and in 2003 she opened a bakery in Los Angeles but still got fan mail sent to her every week, US media reports.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

Do you think the Jung Ho-seok of 2013 who seemed surprised to even receive a packet of fan mail could have envisioned this?

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 5, 2025

There’s one of him reading fan mail in the Pirates clubhouse before the game, and others of him embracing his wife, Vera, and his children afterward.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 1, 2024

As millions watched, Youdale enlisted her mum to handle sacks of fan mail.

From BBC • Jan. 10, 2024

Marina also worked at answering her steady stream of fan mail.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.