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

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

In the song “I Don’t Know His Name,” Amalia concludes that her anonymous pen pal — even though he is, in fact, a co-worker she hates — must be an extremely kind and cultured man:

From New York Times • Jun. 23, 2023

He said a German pen pal who befriended him in prison helped in his rehabilitation.

From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2023

He met Rhianan's mother via a pen pal system for prisoners.

From BBC • Jan. 3, 2023

And to my pen pal, Hirohito, but I kept that to myself.

From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia

Related Words

• letter writer