Standard Lemma guide

telemarketing

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • CMU ARPABET: T EH2 L AH0 M AA1 R K AH0 T IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The business of selling products or services by making unsolicited telephone calls to potential customers.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • The newspaper started a telemarketing campaign to boost its subscriptions by calling non-subscribers.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the use of the telephone as an interactive medium for promotion and sales

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: teleselling, telecommerce

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: selling, merchandising, marketing

Narrower terms: telephone order

History

Etymology

Blend of telephone + marketing.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 電話營銷 /电话营销 (diànhuà yíngxiāo) — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Finnish: puhelinmyynti — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • French: télémarketing — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • French: démarchage téléphonique — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • German: Telefonverkauf — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • German: Telemarketing — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Hindi: टेलीमार्केटिंग (ṭelīmārkeṭiṅg) — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Irish: teileamhargaíocht — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Japanese: 電話勧誘販売 (denwa kanyū hanbai) — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Japanese: テレマーケティング (teremāketingu) — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Macedonian: телемаркетинг (telemarketing) — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Norwegian: telefonsalg — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Polish: telemarketing — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Portuguese: telemarketing — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Portuguese: televendas — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Romanian: vânzare prin telefon — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Romanian: telemarketing — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Russian: телемарке́тинг (telemarkéting) — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Russian: телема́ркетинг (telemárketing) — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Slovene: telefonska prodaja — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Spanish: telemercadotecnia — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Swedish: telefonförsäljning — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Swedish: telemarketing — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers
  • Ukrainian: телема́ркетинг (telemárketynh) — selling products or services by making calls to potential customers