junk mail

noun

1. unsolicited commercial mail or email.

junk mail

noun

1. untargeted mail advertising goods or services

Word History and Origins

Origin of junk mail¹

First recorded in 1950–55

Idioms and Phrases

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]

Example Sentences

It angers me that I get so much junk mail for trash that I don’t want.

From Washington Post

That inspired the use of Spam as the go-to term for online junk mail, initially by a programmer named Joel Furr in the early 1990s.

From Time

One of Fish’s most promising bets is on a company that turns junk mail into roofing board for big commercial buildings.

From Time

The embattled New York congressman announced he was taking a leave of absence to deal with his junk mail problem.

From The Daily Beast

Spammers hadn't figured out that using public keys would make their junk mail more plausible yet, so for now this worked well.

From Project Gutenberg