memo

noun

ˈme-(ˌ)mō 

plural memos

: a usually brief written message or report : memorandum

Use headlines, bullets, and lists to organize the memo and the proposal.

—Inc. Magazine

When your boss asks you to find a memo you wrote a year ago, it's hard to remember what you named it.

—Susan Kelley

Phrases

get the memo

informal + often humorous

: to hear about or become aware of something generally known

—typically used in negative constructions to point to someone's surprising lack of awareness, to say that something did not happen as expected, etc.

Officials often warn tourists not to enter the water, but several tourists searching for that perfect Instagram photo apparently did not get the memo.

—The San Francisco Chronicle

The calendar may say only five more days until fall, but mother nature did not get the memo. It is going to be hot and feel even hotter over the next couple of days.

—Carrie Duncan

You're not still wearing those acid-washed jeans, are you? Tube socks and shorts? … OK, so no one told you. You didn't get the memo. Those things went out with neckties the size of small landing strips.

—Christine Keating

It was expected to be a five-set test of endurance … But, Edberg apparently did not get the memo because he just dominated Courier and captured his first- ever U.S. Open title with a straight set triumph at the National Tennis Center in New York.

—Van Earl Wright

Synonyms

• dispatch
• epistle
• letter
• memorandum
• missive
• note

Examples of memo in a Sentence

He sent a memo to the staff.

a long series of memos between the two authors collaborating on the book

Recent Examples on the Web

Holmes’ office rebutted that with a Nov. 5, 2018, memo from Charles Perusse, Cooper’s state budget director, transferring the responsibility directly to the department. —Alan Wooten | The Center Square, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 14 Dec. 2024

Loftus was arrested in Iowa in October, prosecutors explained in a six-page memo filed Wednesday. —Filip Timotija, The Hill, 14 Dec. 2024

The Biden White House is circulating a memo warning Trump and Republicans of the consequences of repealing the president’s key achievements. —Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 12 Dec. 2024

One of the brothers would sometimes meet women online and invite them to his apartment, prosecutors said in the detention memo. —Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 11 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1705, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing memo

• counter-memo

Kids Definition

memo

noun

ˈmem-ō 

plural memos

: memorandum