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

See Examples For:

pen pal

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

Sullivan said Peck showed him letters and photos that he exchanged with pen pal Gacy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2024

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

A woman whose childhood pen pal suddenly stopped writing after fleeing the Rwanda genocide has written a novel to "exorcise the grief of not knowing what happened" to her.

From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2023

The ship could always use dishwashers or laundresses, she had heard, and so she would work her way to San Francisco where Amy, her pen pal, lived.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George

Related Words

• letter writer