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

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

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

I’ve seen it on many products, in many different presentations — pink-glitter bubble letters on a sticker, loopy black cursive on a tote bag, industrial embroidery on a hat.

From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026

Its fonts, a mix of cursive and midcentury typeface, were inspired by his business card.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026

Some of the detectives’ notes had been written in cursive, which she helped translate for her younger teammates.

From Slate ● Apr. 6, 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

I look across the street and notice a fancy sign with cursive writing on it above a new store.

From "The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora" by Pablo Cartaya

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

It is vouched for by 16 uncials headed by A, and by the cursives in the proportion of 500 to 1.

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

Uncial letters, described, 29-30; mistakes in, 10; how distinguished as to age, 31-40; compressed uncials, 137; mixed with cursives, 142 n 1.

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

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