Synonyms of pens

pens 1 of 5

noun (1)

plural of pen

as in jails

a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody

earned six years in a federal pen

Synonyms & Similar Words

• jails
• prisons
• penitentiaries
• coops
• coolers
• brigs
• cages
• jugs
• hocks
• stockades
• cans
• lockups
• tanks
• big houses
• pokeys
• clinks
• bastilles
• guardrooms
• joints
• bridewells
• stirs
• nicks
• quods
• tolbooths
• cells
• jailhouses
• slammers
• dungeons
• hoosegows
• slams
• holds
• holes
• bull pens
• calabooses
• wards
• hulks
• concentration camps
• guardhouses
• labor camps
• keeps
• prison camps
• work camps
• glasshouses
• blocks
• gulags
• reformatories
• training schools
• reform schools
• stalags
• oubliettes

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• outsides

pens

2 of 5

noun (2)

plural of pen

as in cages

an enclosure with an open framework for keeping animals

a goat pen

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cages
• coops
• corrals
• pounds
• kennels
• hutches
• runs
• fences
• aquariums
• kraals
• folds
• stockades
• cotes
• dovecotes
• pigpens
• henhouses
• sheepfolds
• terraria
• live-boxes

pens

3 of 5

noun (3)

plural of pen

as in writers

a person who creates a written work

Alexander Hamilton is reckoned to be the pseudonymous pen behind two thirds of the Federalist Papers

Synonyms & Similar Words

• writers
• authors
• novelists
• men of letters
• women of letters
• poets
• biographers
• storytellers
• penmen
• litterateurs
• scriveners
• scribes
• wordsmiths
• scribblers
• screenwriters
• bloggers
• reporters
• columnists
• playwrights
• stylists
• dramatists
• coauthors
• ghostwriters
• journalists
• cowriters
• belletrists
• essayists
• hacks
• memoirists
• autobiographers
• pamphleteers
• fictionists
• fictioneers
• memorialists
• scriptwriters
• hagiographers
• auteurs
• hatchet men
• bards
• fabulists
• newspapermen
• versifiers
• rhymers
• wordmongers
• satirists
• sportswriters
• scenarists
• romancers
• prosaists
• prosers
• paragraphers
• coscenarists
• prosateurs

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• nonauthors

pens

4 of 5

verb (1)

present tense third-person singular of pen

as in houses

to close or shut in by or as if by barriers

remember to pen up the dogs when visitors come over

Synonyms & Similar Words

• houses
• cages
• confines
• encloses
• includes
• closets
• surrounds
• boxes (in)
• hedges
• encases
• corrals
• walls (in)
• fences (in)
• envelops
• hems (in)
• encages
• coops (up)
• mews (up)
• bounds
• rings
• contains
• immures
• limits
• restricts
• encompasses
• circumscribes
• encircles
• frames
• enframes
• enfolds
• encysts
• ensheathes
• encapsules
• armors
• encapsulates
• cocoons
• enlaces
• enspheres
• enwombs

pens

5 of 5

verb (2)

present tense third-person singular of pen

as in writes

to compose and set down on paper the words of

though relatively unknown at the time of his death, the composer had penned some of the most memorable show tunes of his era

Synonyms & Similar Words

• writes
• authors
• scribbles
• composes
• crafts
• records
• letters
• prints
• types
• scratches (out)
• drafts
• words
• signs
• rewrites
• pencils (in)
• formulates
• transcribes
• recasts
• casts
• draws up
• prepares
• frames
• phrases
• typewrites
• redrafts
• revises
• autographs
• takes down
• registers
• couches
• puts
• expresses

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of pens

Noun

The state is no longer collecting sales tax on nonelectronic school supplies, which includes a long list of items like paper, notebooks, binder, pens, pencils and markers, rules and protractors, glue, highlighters, index cards and scissors. — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 15 Aug. 2026

On stocks two boxes of long-acting insulin pens from California’s new prescription drug label, CalRx, emblazoned with the state’s iconic grizzly bear. — Angela Hart — Kff Health News, STAT, 13 Aug. 2026

The Grand and Reserve Champion Rabbit Meat pens, Grand and Reserve Grand Champion Market Turkey and Grand and Reserve Grand Champion Chicken Meat pens had been awarded the previous weekend. — Stephanie Ogilvie, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Aug. 2026

The dogs were kept on heavy chains or in overcrowded crates and makeshift pens surrounded by waste, prosecutors said. — Cbs News Atlanta Digital Team, CBS News, 10 Aug. 2026

Classes will cover fine art materials with specific brands of watercolors, pens, and paints, as well as special techniques. — Sophia Beams, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 Aug. 2026

That is why companies are moving to special pens to make injecting prescription GLP-1s and insulin less complex for untrained people. — C. Michael White, The Conversation, 7 Aug. 2026

Traditional school supplies like pens, pencils, markers and more are also not exempt. — Emery Glover, Des Moines Register, 6 Aug. 2026

Each store sold a different variety of pens with Target only selling colored packs of 10 pens, Office Max sold a dual pack of 36 black and blue pens and Walmart sold a red, blue and black pack of 60 pens. — Sacbee.com, 5 Aug. 2026

Verb

This week, Gracie Abrams pens a tearjerker on mother-daughter relationships, Steve Lacy escapes the abyss of a breakup on a colossal double track, and Beabadoobee contemplates risk and reward on a fuzzy new single. — Rolling Stone, 17 July 2026

Sarah Rothschild pens the screenplay with Elizabeth Cantillon producing. — Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 27 June 2026

Amazon moved fast to board the project and the film will now be a big priority at the studio as Loeb pens the script. — Justin Kroll, Deadline, 18 Mar. 2026

Yousafzai pens a portrait of a young woman discovering her identity amid immense pressure. — Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 31 Oct. 2025

The series kicks off when Dale Washberg (Tim Blake Nelson), a member of a powerful Oklahoma family, pens a suicide note, hides it inside a book on his shelves, and then shoots himself in the head. — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2025

The plot kicks off when the Reverend Mother (a delightful Olivia Colman), who runs the Home for Retired Bears, pens a dire message to Paddington about his beloved Aunt Lucy. — Troy Aidan Sambajon, Christian Science Monitor, 13 Feb. 2025