pen pal

American  

noun

pen pals plural

1. a person with whom one keeps up an exchange of letters, usually someone so far away that a personal meeting is unlikely.

   My niece in Texas has a pen pal in France.

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pen pal British  

noun

1. Also called: pen friend.  a person with whom one regularly exchanges letters, often a person in another country whom one has not met

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pen pals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pen pal

An Americanism dating back to 1935–40

Example Sentences

It was a dream come true for Max, who has since become Britain's youngest zookeeper at Chessington Zoo, and acquired an Australian pen pal who loves Max's passion.

From BBC • May 7, 2026

Sigrid shared similar experiences, offering that “your pen pal will change your perspective on life, and you will gain as much as they do from the correspondence.”

From Slate • Sep. 12, 2023

Twenty years after their unlikely pen pal correspondence comes to a sudden end, Iris is working as a journalist in London and sets about trying to find her pen friend.

From BBC • Feb. 25, 2023

Lily had been studying English in school and had a British pen pal, whose family agreed to sponsor Lily’s removal to England as part of the operation known as Kindertransport.

From New York Times • Sep. 14, 2022

“My pen pal was lame,” Alison chimed in.

From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda

Related Words

• letter writer