cursive

American  

[kur-siv] / ˈkɜr sɪv /

adjective

1. (of handwriting) in flowing strokes with the letters joined together.

2. Printing. in flowing strokes resembling handwriting.

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noun

• cursives
  plural

1. a cursive letter or character.

2. Printing. a style of typeface simulating handwriting.

cursive British  

/ ˈkɜːsɪv /

adjective

1. of or relating to handwriting in which letters are formed and joined in a rapid flowing style

2. printing of or relating to typefaces that resemble handwriting

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noun

1. a cursive letter or printing type

2. a manuscript written in cursive letters

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cursiveness
  noun
• noncursive
  adjective
• transcursive
  adjective
• cursively
  adverb
• noncursively
  adverb
• transcursively
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cursives
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of cursive

1775–85; < Medieval Latin cursīvus flowing (said of penmanship), equivalent to Latin curs ( us ) (past participle of currere to run) + -īvus -ive

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Explanation

Cursive is a style of writing in which all the letters in a word are connected. It's also known as script or longhand. When the third-grade students learned cursive writing, they were excited to find that they could write entire words without lifting their pencil from the paper. Cursive comes from the past participle of the Latin word currere, which means "to run." In cursive handwriting, the letters all run into one another and the hand runs across the page, never lifting between letters. Every time a document asks for your signature at the bottom of a document, you are meant to use this flowing cursive writing style.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cursive cursives

It is primarily composed of concrete streets, old family-run stores, and a massive influx of newer, sleeker businesses with scrawled cursive logos and $7 drinks.

From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026

Who else sees “Instagzam”? Instagram unveiled its first brand refresh in a decade, swapping its classic cursive wordmark for a hybrid script that is drawing mixed reactions online.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

We also want to get an auto pen so we can write handwritten cards for guests because it’s kind of hard to write perfect handwriting in different languages and in cursive.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

Her legal team argued that the way Cathay Home has styled the word "Swift" in its branding closely resembled the singer's trademarked cursive signature.

From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2026

But I tried again once she handed the pen back to me, and this time the cursive flowed out the way I had been taught.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

While Loi Che Chan does employ Chinese, she revives extravagantly illegible cursives as old as the eighth century.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 11, 2019

They worked obsessively, perfecting their lettering, their cursives, and their lines.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 10, 2015

Those familiar words, vouched for by 16 uncials and all the cursives, are quite above suspicion.

From The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels by John William Burgon

Ephraemi than in some others, but is used more or less by all, and is found after εξ, or ουχ, and a few like words, even in the most recent cursives.

From A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, Vol. I. by Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener

Three out of the four cursives belong to Professor Ferrar's group.

From A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, Vol. II. by Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener

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