O. Henry

[ oh hen-ree ]

noun

1. pen name of William Sydney Porter.

O. Henry

/ əʊ ˈhɛnrɪ /

noun

1. O. Henry18621910MUSWRITING: short-story writer pen name of William Sidney Porter. 1862–1910, US short-story writer. His collections of stories, characterized by his use of caricature and surprising endings, include Cabbages and Kings (1904) and The Four Million (1906)

Henry, O.

1. A twentieth-century American author known for “ The Gift of the Magi ” and other short stories. He specialized in surprise endings. His real name was William Sydney Porter.

Example Sentences

Short story writers like O. Henry dazzled readers with their deft finales.

From Los Angeles Times

I feel like “Christmas Eve” has a slight O. Henry, “Gift of the Magi” element to it — another literary reference that hopefully the kids who watch “Frog and Toad” will read someday.

From Salon

“She started me on Nancy Drew once we had the basics. Then she moved me on to O. Henry.”

From New York Times

“It was like some O. Henry short story: We got what we wanted, a quote-unquote pro-life president and this was not what I wanted,” she recalled earlier this year.

From Washington Post

Like O. Henry, Brown regularly employed surprise endings throughout his work.

From Washington Post