open letter

noun

: a published letter of protest or appeal usually addressed to an individual but intended for the general public

Examples of open letter in a Sentence

In an open letter to the company, a citizens' group implored company executives to reconsider their decision to close the factory.

Recent Examples on the Web

The 5,670 figure appears to refer to the open letter organized by the Block the Merger coalition, signed by thousands of film and TV professionals opposed to the deal. — Andrew McGowan, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026

Nathan Calvin, the general counsel of an AI advocacy group called Encode, joined other watchdogs signing an open letter this month, urging the SSC to be more transparent about how well internal checks are working at OpenAI. — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 30 Sep. 2026

In response to Paramount’s accusation against Ruffalo, more than 150 prominent Jewish figures signed an open letter defending the actor. — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026

In addition to demonstrations and online campaigns, the coalition helped organize an open letter of industry professionals opposing the transaction, including JJ Abrams, Damon Lindelof, David Fincher and Denis Villeneuve. — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 21 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1898, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for open letter

• carburetter
• carburettor
• abettor
• newsletter
• typesetter
• better
• bettor
• debtor
• fetter
• getter
• netter
• petter

Kids Definition

open letter

noun

: a letter (as one addressed to an official) for the public to see and printed in a newspaper or magazine