power of the pencil
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
The ability to create or influence through writing or drawing
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Khả năng tạo ra hoặc ảnh hưởng thông qua viết lách hoặc vẽ
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: the power of a pencil as a writing instrument
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The journalist used the power of the pencil to expose corruption
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “power of the pencil” mean?
The ability to create or influence through writing or drawing Literally: the power of a pencil as a writing instrument
Is “power of the pencil” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.