1
: an official note or report : memorandum
2
a
: a narrative composed from personal experience
every memoir reminds us of the faraway and long ago, of loss and change, of persons and places beyond recall—
Abigail McCarthy
Abigail McCarthy
b
: autobiography
—usually used in plural
His memoirs recall his student days at Harvard.
c
: biography
his memoir of his longtime friend
3
a
: an account of something noteworthy : report
the work described and discussed in this memoir represent a first-class investigation—J. A. Steers
J. A. Steers
b
memoirs plural
: the record of the proceedings of a learned society
Examples of memoir in a Sentence
a retired politician who is writing his memoirs
He has written a memoir of his mother.
a memoir of Hollywood in the 1930s
Recent Examples on the Web
Rushdie writes about the attack in his memoir, Knife.
—Mito Habe-Evans, NPR, 17 Apr. 2024
In 2006, the couple worked together on the film Running With Scissors, an adaptation of an Augusten Burroughs memoir.
—Catherine Santino, Peoplemag, 16 Apr. 2024
Salman Rushdie isn’t limiting himself to just his new memoir to recount the 2022 stabbing attack that nearly killed him.
—Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2024
Her Instagram post announcing the memoir has gotten 108,000-plus likes and over 3,300 comments, including one from friend, actor, and Pretend Cooking Show host Jennifer Garner.
—Christianna Silva, Better Homes & Gardens, 13 Apr. 2024
This hot mess began after her mother, Kris Jenner, admitted in her 2011 memoir to cheating on her husband, late lawyer Robert Kardashian, without naming names.
—Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 12 Apr. 2024
That dazzling self-possession is an aspect of her œuvre, which includes plays, essays, memoir, and fiction.
—The New Yorker, 12 Apr. 2024
At readings of her memoir, Hit So Hard, fans often tell her the band’s music saved them.
—Candace Hansen, SPIN, 12 Apr. 2024
John Rubel, an avionics expert who served as an assistant secretary of defense under President Kennedy, wrote about the SIOP in his 2008 memoir, Doomsday Delayed.
—Annie Jacobsen, TIME, 11 Apr. 2024
Mito Habe-Evans, NPR, 17 Apr. 2024
In 2006, the couple worked together on the film Running With Scissors, an adaptation of an Augusten Burroughs memoir.
—Catherine Santino, Peoplemag, 16 Apr. 2024
Salman Rushdie isn’t limiting himself to just his new memoir to recount the 2022 stabbing attack that nearly killed him.
—Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2024
Her Instagram post announcing the memoir has gotten 108,000-plus likes and over 3,300 comments, including one from friend, actor, and Pretend Cooking Show host Jennifer Garner.
—Christianna Silva, Better Homes & Gardens, 13 Apr. 2024
This hot mess began after her mother, Kris Jenner, admitted in her 2011 memoir to cheating on her husband, late lawyer Robert Kardashian, without naming names.
—Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 12 Apr. 2024
That dazzling self-possession is an aspect of her œuvre, which includes plays, essays, memoir, and fiction.
—The New Yorker, 12 Apr. 2024
At readings of her memoir, Hit So Hard, fans often tell her the band’s music saved them.
—Candace Hansen, SPIN, 12 Apr. 2024
John Rubel, an avionics expert who served as an assistant secretary of defense under President Kennedy, wrote about the SIOP in his 2008 memoir, Doomsday Delayed.
—Annie Jacobsen, TIME, 11 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'memoir.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near memoir
Cite this Entry
“Memoir.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/memoir. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
memoir
noun
mem·oir
ˈmem-ˌwär 
-ˌwȯ(ə)r
1
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