How to Use pen pal in a Sentence

pen pal

noun
  • With so much time apart, the two returned to their pen pal roots.
    — Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 10 Apr. 2026
  • Jay and Jun spent their youths countries apart but were pen pals.
    — Delfina Barbiero, USA TODAY, 19 June 2019
  • People used to be pen pals and the lucky ones eventually got to meet up.
    — Amy Dickinson, Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2023
  • Not for me, but my son did have a pen pal program in elementary school.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 18 July 2019
  • Colton Hansen meets his tele pen pal Jo Ann Bickham.
    — December 5, CBS News, 5 Dec. 2025
  • Upstairs, Em is freaking out at the prospect of coming face-to-face with her pen pal.
    — Jessica Goldstein, Vulture, 24 Dec. 2021
  • Now all of their residents can experience the joy of a pen pal.
    — Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 7 July 2020
  • And the guy who did get a phone number merely became a pen pal for a few weeks before ghosting.
    — Nicole Motamed, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2021
  • Why do these disruptive, online-first companies want to be our old school pen pals?
    — Chavie Lieber, Vox, 1 Nov. 2018
  • Waiting for him was a high school classmate named Cristina, his only prison pen pal.
    — Lori Basheda, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2021
  • Needless to say, Corona was pleased to hear back from his new pen pal — and no longer feeling down about his name.
    — Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2020
  • One of her followers retweeted with a picture holding the same book and asked if the two could be pen pals and swap notes.
    — Kynala Phillips, Essence, 29 July 2019
  • At the end of each episode, the show offered an opportunity to write in and request a pen pal.
    — Tereza Shkurtaj, PEOPLE, 27 Sep. 2025
  • What Bickham didn't know is that her tele pen pal was waiting to surprise her in person for the first time.
    — December 5, CBS News, 5 Dec. 2025
  • In applying for a mortgage, few home-buyers expect to become pen pals with their lender.
    — Robyn A. Friedman, WSJ, 1 Aug. 2018
  • Things don't work out at the time, but the two reconnect years later as pen pals during the pandemic.
    — Katie Bowlby, Country Living, 28 Feb. 2023
  • Fenster said Addie wants to continue as a pen pal with Melquist.
    — Joel Rippel, Star Tribune, 21 Aug. 2020
  • Gibson met with prospective pen pals, including many women.
    — Gary Trust, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
  • The actress and musician reportedly met at camp as pre-teens and became pen pals to keep in touch.
    — Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 10 Apr. 2026
  • Some are looking for a pen pal that will read the Bible along with them, while others are just looking for someone to talk sports with.
    — Emily Vanschmus, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 June 2020
  • The two creators are frequent email pen pals, and Wright has sent many old-school vinyl rock ’n’ roll records to King over the years.
    — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 12 Nov. 2025
  • The sweetest tale ever of a young girl, her fairy garden and a kind stranger who found comfort being a pen pal to her and her family.
    — Shira Ovide, New York Times, 14 Dec. 2020
  • Newton spoke of the incident to many people, including his pen pal Voltaire.
    — Brian Handwerk, Smithsonian, 7 Mar. 2018
  • One of Bruce’s classmates had a British pen pal, and some of that girl’s friends wanted writing buddies of their own.
    — Marisa Iati, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2023
  • The first was back in the 1990s to support a fellow runner, who was a digital pen pal.
    — John Delapp, Houston Chronicle, 24 Sep. 2020
  • Everyone in the class wound up with a similar-aged pen pal from an elementary school in Iowa.
    — Heidi Stevens, chicagotribune.com, 20 Apr. 2018
  • After winter break, Barbara Pierce went back to school in the South, but the two became pen pals.
    — Time, 17 Apr. 2018
  • At one Missouri zoo, visitors are still able to engage with the animals through a unique pen pal program.
    — Georgia Slater, PEOPLE.com, 2 Apr. 2020
  • This may entail weekly video calls, yearly visits, or even a pen pal type exchange via traditional mail.
    — ​wendy Wisner, Parents, 7 Mar. 2026
  • The couple first met the prince in 1974, and from then on, Nancy and Charles were pen pals of sorts.
    — Brenna Williams, CNN, 31 Aug. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pen pal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: