open letter

noun

1. a letter, often of protest or criticism, addressed to a specific person, but intended to be brought to public attention.

open letter

noun

1. a letter, esp one of protest, addressed to a person but also made public, as through the press

Other Words From

• open-letter adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of open letter¹

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

In January, Yale baseball captain Cal Christofori wrote an open letter to the Ivy League Council of Presidents lobbying for a spring season.

From Washington Post

In December, about a dozen union leaders published an open letter to Lamont and Cardona with a dire assessment of the school year to date.

From Washington Post

An organization that lobbies for the rights of blind people has formed a task force and hired an outside consultant after apologizing for allegations of sexual misconduct in its programs, which surfaced in an open letter last month.

From Washington Post

Poitras revealed her departure from First Look in an open letter on Thursday.

From Washington Post

More than 5,300 people, including over 2,200 Google employees, have now signed an open letter protesting Google’s treatment of Gebru and demanding that the company explain itself.

From Fortune

He wrote an open letter—posted to the conservative blog Power Line—that quickly went viral.

From The Daily Beast

In an open letter to British newspapers, he warned reporters to stay away.

From The Daily Beast

In an open letter to the governor, Beck himself wondered if Cuomo wanted to bring tyranny to the state.

From The Daily Beast

In a Daily Beast exclusive, here is his open letter about the film, which is currently seeking crowdfunding.

From The Daily Beast

Blue Is the Warmest Color director Abdellatif Kechiche pens open letter attacking star Lea Seydoux.

From The Daily Beast

Lang bleats for one, and I thought I might address it to him as a kind of open letter.

From Project Gutenberg

I was treated to an open letter, signed "Junius Secundus," and I replied in provocative terms.

From Project Gutenberg

He stared at the open letter as if it possessed the eyes of a basilisk.

From Project Gutenberg

And going into the other room, Frank returned in a moment with an open letter, still wet from the copying-press.

From Project Gutenberg

He laughed uneasily, but made no reply, as Bernardine entered the room at that instant with an open letter in her hand.

From Project Gutenberg