nounpenwomen

• 1dated A woman who writes with a specified degree of skill.

  ‘a poor penwoman’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The day was fixed, and the fat Sophy, who bore the reputation of being an excellent penwoman, sat down to write the invitations.’
  • ‘I have been told that in her day she was considered the best penwoman at Court.’
  • ‘Dorcas has promised to write to us, and I assure you is no bad pen-woman.’
  • ‘Elizabeth became a superb penwoman but the handwriting of one of her most famous subjects Shakespeare could hardly have been worse.’
  • ‘I'm but a bad penwoman myself, Miss Nevil, but I learned a little at the charity-school.’
  • ‘Though no great penwoman she sends satisfactory reports.’
  • ‘She pointed to several sheets of paper, written upon in a hand which shewed that the harridan had been no contemptible pen-woman in her younger days.’
  • ‘Mrs. Pipchin was but an indifferent pen-woman.’

  1. 1.1A female author.
     ‘the author is that skilled penwoman who wrote 'The Ladye Shakerley'’
     More example sentences

     • ‘The most brilliant penwoman of today is soured in temper.’
     • ‘The first to be elected was that famous pen-woman, zealous worker for her sex, and "Mother of Clubs," Mrs. JC Croly.’
     • ‘The Worker described her as 'a leader in thought, a distinguished pen-woman, and a wise exponent of women's work.'’
     • ‘On a love seat for two, but just large enough for the one of her, sat Mary Western Lung, the noted penwoman.’
     • ‘Miss Willerton, in fact, bears more than a passing resemblance to the dreaded penwomen O'Connor would write so disparagingly about in later years.’
     Synonyms

     writer, man of letters, woman of letters, wordsmith