dead letter
noun
1
: something that has lost its force or authority without being formally abolished
2
: a letter that is undeliverable and unreturnable by the post office
Examples of dead letter in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Among other films to see is Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy’s SXSW title Dead Mail, in which an ominous help note finds its way to a 1980s post office, connecting a dead letter investigator to a kidnapped keyboard technician.
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Matt Grobar, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2024
Eurasianism and Slavophilism are mostly dead letters: the overwhelming majority of the world’s non-Russian Slavs joined or are clamoring to join the European Union and NATO.
—Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2024
Those have been turned into a dead letter by the Republic.
—Gregory Makoff, Fortune, 9 Mar. 2024
But impeachment, once seen as perhaps the most serious check on corruption and abuse of power developed by the founders, now looks in danger of becoming a constitutional dead letter, just another weapon in today’s bitter, tit-for-tat partisan wars.
—Peter Baker, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for dead letter 
Matt Grobar, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2024
Eurasianism and Slavophilism are mostly dead letters: the overwhelming majority of the world’s non-Russian Slavs joined or are clamoring to join the European Union and NATO.
—Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2024
Those have been turned into a dead letter by the Republic.
—Gregory Makoff, Fortune, 9 Mar. 2024
But impeachment, once seen as perhaps the most serious check on corruption and abuse of power developed by the founders, now looks in danger of becoming a constitutional dead letter, just another weapon in today’s bitter, tit-for-tat partisan wars.
—Peter Baker, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for dead letter
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dead letter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Dead letter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dead%20letter. Accessed 29 Sep. 2024.
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