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dead letter

dead let·ter
D d

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [ded let-er]
    • /dɛd ˈlɛt ər/
    • /ded ˈletə(r)/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [ded let-er]
    • /dɛd ˈlɛt ər/

Definitions of dead letter words

  • countable noun dead letter If you say that a law or agreement is a dead letter, you mean that it still exists but people ignore it. 3
  • noun dead letter a letter that cannot be delivered or returned because it lacks adequate directions 3
  • noun dead letter a law or ordinance that is no longer enforced but has not been formally repealed 3
  • noun dead letter anything considered no longer worthy of consideration 3
  • noun dead letter a law, practice, etc. no longer enforced or operative but not formally done away with 3
  • noun dead letter a letter that cannot be delivered or returned, as because of incorrect address and lack of return address 3

Information block about the term

Origin of dead letter

First appearance:

before 1570
One of the 33% oldest English words
First recorded in 1570-80

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Dead letter

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

dead letter popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 42% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
According to our data about 52% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

dead letter usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

See also

Matching words

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