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

Ellison's office's lack of substantive response to the ultimatum comes despite the fact that hundreds of Minnesota school board members penned an open letter urging the state to comply with Trump and change its policies to keep males out of girls sports. —Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 11 Oct. 2025

Additionally, more than 400 artists and entertainment industry figures signed an open letter published from the ACLU. —Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 26 Sep. 2025

Liev Schreiber, Mayim Bialik, and Greg Berlanti are among 1,200 industry figures who have signed an open letter decrying an Israeli film boycott. —Jake Kanter, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2025

Around 1200 artists and executives from the entertainment world have signed an open letter condemning any Israeli film boycott calls amid the Gaza conflict. —Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2025

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
• petar

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