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

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Etymology

Origin of pen pal

An Americanism dating back to 1935–40

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pen pal

He once had a pen pal relationship with President Reagan because he thought it was important to hear the perspectives of political opponents.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2023

We've already had fans telling BBC Scotland about rooms being booked, flights lined up and favours being pulled in from that long-lost school pen pal offering a room in Dusseldorf.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2023

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

“This will be your new pen pal for tonight’s assignment. You’ll have to write this person a note using the writing of ancient Egyptians.”

From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina

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Related Words

• letter writer

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