junk mail

American  

noun

1. unsolicited commercial mail or email.

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junk mail British  

noun

1. untargeted mail advertising goods or services

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junk mail Idioms  

1. Third-class mail, such as unsolicited advertisements and flyers, that is sent indiscriminately. For example, While we were on vacation the front hall filled up with junk mail. [c. 1950]

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Etymology

Origin of junk mail

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Fabian says some accounts will be less active than others and in some cases the email may end up in the junk mail folder.

From BBC

Given how much junk mail and spam we all get these days, you may have tossed out those communications without giving them a second thought.

From Los Angeles Times

I have no doubt it would be delicious on a frozen bagel or a stack of junk mail.

From New York Times

The type of data sharing that GPC addresses goes beyond the web, Marti said, so it should help cut down on junk mail, calls and faxes.

From Seattle Times

The piece is one of several in the Upstate New York artist’s Adah Rose Gallery show, “The Anatomy of an Inanimate Object,” that use a new but characteristically humble material: junk mail.

From Washington Post