writer

American  

[rahy-ter] / ˈraɪ tər /

noun

• writers
  plural

1. a person engaged in writing books, articles, stories, etc., especially as an occupation or profession; an author or journalist.

2. a clerk, scribe, or the like.

3. a person who commits their thoughts, ideas, etc., to writing.

   She's an expert letter writer.

4. (in a piece of writing) the author (used as a circumlocution for “I,” “me,” “my,” etc.).

   The writer wishes to state….

5. a person who writes or is able to write.

   a writer in script.

6. Stock Exchange. someone who sells options.

7. Scot. a lawyer or solicitor.

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writer British  

/ ˈraɪtə /

noun

1. a person who writes books, articles, etc, esp as an occupation

2. the person who has written something specified

3. a person who is able to write or write well

4. a scribe or clerk

5. a composer of music

6. a legal practitioner, such as a notary or solicitor

7. (in Scotland) a member of an ancient society of solicitors, now having the exclusive privilege of preparing crown writs

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• writers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of writer

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English wrītere; see origin at write, -er ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

writer writers

ITHACA, N.Y.—On a drizzly Thursday, Cornell University students wandered into consulting recruitment sessions, hustled up the slopes to midterms and listened to a Pulitzer-winning fiction writer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

You may not be earning a six-figure salary like that other letter writer, but your outlook is far less bleak than the initial arithmetic suggests.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

New York Times writer Eli Tan used it to call his dental insurer and wait on hold for a human representative to come on.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

The prolific and acclaimed writer and activist used his liberal beliefs and his agrarian roots in Kentucky to craft novels, poems and essays connecting the natural world to humankind.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

I thought she had the makings of a good writer herself.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

But until I read its headline writers telling me that Red Sanders’ 1949 beginning with four wins while I was at Fairfax High was before the “modern era,” I hadn’t understood that I’m ancient.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

He became a self-proclaimed "bookworm", reading Albert Camus, Toni Morrison, and Romain Gary, as well as fellow Haitian writers such as Jacques Roumain and James Noel.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

Packard-Grams hopes that subtle differences in ink chemistry could act like signatures, potentially helping researchers distinguish individual writers.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

Mr. Fiennes doesn’t slot his writers into self-contained chapters, but holds “a rolling conversation” between himself and his subjects as he goes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

When Guiteau attacked, editorial writers and others called for full-time protection of the president.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

Related Words

• author
• biographer
• columnist
• correspondent
• critic
• dramatist
• editor
• essayist
• journalist
• novelist
• poet
• reporter
• screenwriter