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

But the gates leading into the ostrich pens were now behind police lines. — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026

The youngest raccoons will spend a few weeks mostly indoors being bottle-fed by rehabbers until they’re vaccinated for diseases carried by cat colonies and dogs and are ready to move to outdoor pens. — ABC News, 21 Sep. 2026

This craft set comes with a notepad, eraser, sticker sheet, three markers, and two pens, all packed inside a decorative ramen cup that doubles as a desk pen holder. — Anja Webb, Parents, 18 Sep. 2026

Stain remover pens like Tide to Go’s fan-favorite version can save you on the plane, in the restaurant, or even just strolling down the street with your iced latte. — Brandon Schultz, Travel + Leisure, 18 Sep. 2026

Klaudia hadn’t managed to take more than two steps out of the town car before the reporters descended, pens poised over their notepads, shouting until their voices peaked. — Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2026

Nearly everything that survives of the rebels comes down through their enemies’ pens; Greengrass’ film reaches toward lives that history left largely unseen. — Jp Mangalindan, Time, 11 Sep. 2026

For a more permanent fix, home improvement and hardware stores carry laminate repair pastes and pens that can cover blemishes. — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 8 Sep. 2026

As members of the press were filing into the theater, a representative for A24 handed them notebooks and pens. — Rebecca Keegan, NBC news, 7 Sep. 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