penthouse

American  

[pent-hous] / ˈpɛntˌhaʊs /

noun

• penthouses
  plural

1. an apartment or dwelling on the roof of a building, usually set back from the outer walls.

2. any specially designed apartment on an upper floor, especially the top floor, of a building.

3. a structure on a roof for housing elevator machinery, a water tank, etc.

4. Also called pentice.  Also called pent.  a shed with a sloping roof, or a sloping roof, projecting from a wall or the side of a building, as to shelter a door.

5. any rooflike shelter or overhanging part.

6. shed roof.

7. Court Tennis. a corridor having a slanted roof and projecting from three walls of the court.

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penthouse British  

/ ˈpɛntˌhaʊs /

noun

1. a flat or maisonette built onto the top floor or roof of a block of flats

2. a construction on the roof of a building, esp one used to house machinery

3. a shed built against a building, esp one that has a sloping roof

4. real tennis the roofed corridor that runs along three sides of the court

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• penthouselike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• penthouses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of penthouse

First recorded in 1520–30; alteration (by folk etymology) of Middle English pentis, from Old French apentiz, equivalent to apent, past participle of apendre “to hang against” + -iz ( French -is ), from unattested Vulgar Latin -ātīcium, noun use of neuter of unattested -ātīcius, equivalent to Latin -āt(us) past participle suffix + -īcius adjective suffix; see appendant, -ate ¹

Explanation

A penthouse is fancy apartment on the very highest floor of a tall building. The penthouse can be a status symbol. Just ask the characters from The Jeffersons — they moved on up to a “deluxe apartment in the sky.” While you can use the word penthouse for any top floor apartment, it usually implies something luxurious. A penthouse is often the fanciest and most expensive apartment in the building. Sometimes a penthouse even has its own private elevator. The first penthouses appeared in the 1920s, some taking up entire top floors, though the word has been in use much longer. Originally, it meant "simple structure," from the Old French apentis, "attached building."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

penthouse penthouses

That’s in addition to $80 million worth of units in the building, including a three-story penthouse and two apartments on the level right below it.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

They met at his penthouse in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood, at a private back room in a bar in North Beach and at the W Hotel in Los Angeles, she writes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

As his star rose, he attracted amused attention with his Manhattan penthouse and Palm Beach compound, both outfitted to the gills in golden decor.

From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026

By contrast, billionaire financier Ken Griffin, who purchased a Manhattan penthouse in 2019 for roughly $238 million, could potentially end up owing $1 million or more in new taxes on that property.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026

Her girls don't understand why she moved back to a Flushing apartment instead of staying in her oldest daughter's Manhattan penthouse.

From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins

Later, Detroit planned to build luxury condos and penthouses on the land, but those projects largely collapsed with the onset of the 2007-09 recession.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

It now offers 53 loft-style homes and eight penthouses.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026

The building now has 234 apartments, made up of studios, one and two-bed apartments, duplexes, and penthouses.

From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2024

Beneath the Shakespearean insults and the Upper East Side penthouses, there was something empty at the heart of “Succession.”

From New York Times ● May 28, 2023

His eyes twinkled from under two penthouses of white eyebrows.

From The Little Nugget by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse

Related Words

• co-op
• condo
• condominium
• cooperative
• flat
• suite