penthouse
Americannoun
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penthouses
plural
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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.
See Examples For:
The mayor named and shamed hedge fund manager Ken Griffin for owning a $238 million penthouse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
They met at his penthouse in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood, at a private back room in a bar in North Beach and at the W Hotel in Los Angeles, she writes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
They rave about their “upscale lifestyle beyond anything we could have dreamed possible,” living in a spacious penthouse apartment with great views and a housekeeper.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
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
“It’s brilliant, Uncle Heath. I mean, who wouldn’t want to live in a river-view tower? I know I’m looking forward to my free penthouse apartment. Care for a mint?”
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
It now offers 53 loft-style homes and eight penthouses.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026
In 32 pages of PowerPoint slides, replete with images of coastal high-rises alongside charts and cost tables, the plan outlines steps to take Gaza residents from tents to penthouses and from poverty to prosperity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
He was previously a general manager at 375 Kensington High Street - a luxury residential estate in west London with apartments and penthouses.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2025
Did working on it give you a taste for watches and penthouses and custom suiting or the opposite?
From New York Times ● May 29, 2023
It came up from the other side of the weir, and it was a cunning old head, with sharp little eyes under bushy gray brows, overhanging like penthouses.
From Two Summers in Guyenne by Barker, Edward Harrison
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.
