Word.ws English Dictionary

penholder

/ˈpɛnˌhəʊl.dəɹ/

penholder noun: a handle into which a nib or other penpoint is fitted to form a pen. Also the alternative form of penhold.

Noun

penholder (plural penholders)

  1. A handle into which a nib or other penpoint is fitted to form a pen.
    • He was amazing, and had a penholder behind his ear.1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 207
    • The Browns gave the Obamas an ornate penholder made from the timber of a Victorian antislave ship.2009 April 3, Helene Cooper, “Obama’s Star Turn at Summit Gets Mixed Results”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Feb 2022
    Synonyms:
    penstick
  2. A device for storing pens while they are not being used.
  3. A member of the United Nations Security Council with responsibility for a specified issue.
    • Widespread reports of ethnically targeted killings in recent days prompted the UK, as the UN penholder on Sudan, to call an emergency session of the security council in New York on Thursday.2025 October 30, Patrick Wintour, “UN leaders condemn ‘horrifying’ mass killings in Sudan”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 12 Nov 2025

Also used as

penholder is also the alternative form of penhold.

Synonyms of penholder

Forms of penholder

pluralpenholders

Origin of penholder

From pen + holder.

Questions about penholder

What does penholder mean?
Penholder means a handle into which a nib or other penpoint is fitted to form a pen.
What part of speech is penholder?
Penholder is a noun.
How do you pronounce penholder?
Penholder is pronounced /ˈpɛnˌhəʊl.dəɹ/.
What is the plural of penholder?
The plural of penholder is penholders.

Words near penholder in the dictionary

  1. Penha
  2. Penhallurick
  3. Penhelig
  4. Penhill
  5. penhold
  6. penholder
  7. penholders
  8. penholds
  9. penhouse
  10. penhouses
  11. Penhow

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: penholder (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Neøn-penholder.wav.

Cite this entry: “penholder.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/penholder. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.