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

Below the large windows draped in both fake and live ivy vines sits a chalkboard with a basket of pens and pieces of paper. — Heather L. Whitley, Southern Living, 3 Nov. 2026

Autumn in New England, through Gerwig’s lens, is a land of books, ink pens, books, costumes, books, fireplaces, books, feasts, books, and ever-turning leaves. — Debby Wolfinsohn, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Nov. 2026

These include tons of fun stationery items like cards, journals, pens and other paper goods. — Josephine Murphy, NBC news, 30 Oct. 2026

For those obsessed with paper and pens (guilty), Yoseka Stationery in Greenpoint stocks the very best in Japanese stationery design—from Hobonichi journals to Kaweco fountain pens. — Jessica Sulima, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Oct. 2026

Students caught with e-cigarettes or vape pens can receive at least 10 days of in-school suspension. — Lina Ruiz, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Oct. 2026

Some 104,643 defective pens were returned in the first 8 months of sales. — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026

Rug Island — named after a season two episode where the characters use their imagination to create an island from a rug, throw cushions and colored pens — comes on a green and orange LP. — Tim Chan, HollywoodReporter, 26 Oct. 2026

This deal includes a T-PEN stylus with 4,096 pressure levels, making creating digital art and writing feel as natural as possible without lugging around all your paints, pens, and canvases. — Kelsey Fogarty, PC Magazine, 23 Oct. 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