Meanings
- pluralplural onlyPersonals (advertisements by which individuals attempt to meet) placed over a distance, as by telephone or Internet.
Because I spent a lot of time alone back in LA, calling the Telepersonals had turned into a habit.
2000, Chris Kraus, Aliens and anorexia3 more examples
Mona, whom Marty had met through the telepersonals before rejecting her as a sex mate, told him that she'd get right on it. In fact, she ignored him.
2002, Ellen Pollock, The PretenderYou've probably heard of or seen personal ads in the newspaper, advertisements for telepersonals on the telephone, video dating services...
2005, Erika Bukkfalvi Hilliard, Paul Foxman, Living Fully with Shyness and Social AnxietyShe wasn't romantically interested in me, so a few weeks later at the suggestion of a friend, I picked up the phone and tried the telepersonals.
2005, Mark Linden O'Meara, The Feeling Soul: A Roadmap to Healing and Living
Origin
From tele- + personals, probably from a 1990s trademark.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
telepersonals. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/telepersonals
“telepersonals.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/telepersonals. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “telepersonals,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/telepersonals.
Source: telepersonals on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.