penthouse
Americannoun
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an apartment or dwelling on the roof of a building, usually set back from the outer walls.
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any specially designed apartment on an upper floor, especially the top floor, of a building.
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a structure on a roof for housing elevator machinery, a water tank, etc.
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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.
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any rooflike shelter or overhanging part.
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Court Tennis. a corridor having a slanted roof and projecting from three walls of the court.
noun
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a flat or maisonette built onto the top floor or roof of a block of flats
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a construction on the roof of a building, esp one used to house machinery
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a shed built against a building, esp one that has a sloping roof
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real tennis the roofed corridor that runs along three sides of the court
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
After leaving the top post at AOL Time Warner in 2003, he moved into another penthouse at a more modest building.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
In the 1990s and 2000s, Turner maintained a top-floor office and penthouse at his media conglomerate’s CNN Center in Atlanta.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
Mamdani filmed a video in April outside Griffin's New York penthouse to promote a new tax on luxury properties in the city.
From BBC • May 6, 2026
I said, “Sergeant, what prompted this new search? You’ve already tom the penthouse apart.”
From "Confessions of a Murder Suspect" by James Patterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
