Obama phone

noun

A cellphone provided as part of the United States Lifeline Program.

Meanings

Obama phone1

nounObama phone (plural Obama phones)

plural Obama phones · alternative Obama Phone · alternative Obamaphone

  1. USA cellphone provided as part of the United States Lifeline Program.

    “[…]. Get yourself one of those Obama phones, Romeo,”

    2014, Darlene Pollock, Logan Pollock, Invasive Species, Part I, Trafford Publishing, page 31
    2 more examples

    Here's Emmett's mother touting the virtues of her "Obama phone"

    2012 September 29, [Tor] Sir Gregory Hall, Esq., “Emmett's "Obama phone"”, in alt.usenet.kooks (Usenet)

    Outside / brown & broken teeth / gasp out brainless twaddle. / into their Obama phones.

    2013, Steve De France, Because I Can’t Whistle, Xlibris, page 102

Obama Phone2

nounObama Phone (plural Obama Phones)

plural Obama Phones

  1. Alternative letter-case form of Obama phone.

    First it was the Obama Phone... (title)

    2013 July 18, 2,075 murdered in Obama's organized communities, “First it was the Obama Phone...”, in alt.politics.elections (Usenet)
    5 more examples

    I'd even give up my Obama Phone for HUNKY farrel.

    2012 September 27, Ernie, “Obama Phone”, in alt.baldspot (Usenet)

    […] : the Obama Phone, an urban legend that claims President Obama funds free cell phones for poor black and other minority populations.

    a. 2012, Anna Everett, "Have We Become Postracial Yet?", in 2012, Lisa Nakamura, Peter A. Chow-White, Race After the Internet, Routledge (2012), page 246

    He’s so broke he qualifies for a free mobile phone as part of the ‘Obama Phone’ programme.

    2012, Jon Ronson, Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries, Picador, page 120

    They would rather have a free Obama Phone than freedom of speech.

    2013, Ken English, More Common Sense, WestBow, page 86

    I wonder if she was using her Obama Phone.

    2014 June 4, o m e H o m e G u y, “Re: “I kill white people like you” says black woman on Houston-bound flight”, in alt.home.repair (Usenet)

Origin

Coined during the Obama administration, which conservatives believed was giving minorities free Lifeline Program phones.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Obama phone. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Obama%20phone

MLA

“Obama phone.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Obama%20phone. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Obama phone,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Obama%20phone.

Source: Obama phone on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.