Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

serif

American  
[ser-if] / ˈsɛr ɪf /
especially British, ceriph

noun

Printing.
  1. a smaller line used to finish off a main stroke of a letter, as at the top and bottom of M.


serif British  
/ ˈsɛrɪf /

noun

  1. printing a small line at the extremities of a main stroke in a type character

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of serif

1835–45; perhaps < Dutch schreef line (in writing), akin to schrijven to write

Vocabulary lists containing serif

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Serif had spent decades in typeface oblivion as startups, luxury brands and food companies adopted blocky letters.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025

Compared to Sustainable Serif at 12 point size, “for Garamond to have the same size of the letter, it has to be scaled up to 15.2 point size,” Mr Stobberup says.

From BBC • Sep. 16, 2024

Serif fonts “have an extra flourish that makes it look pretty for many people, but can clutter what is on the page,” Ms. Abercrombie-Winstanley said in an interview, echoing the dominant thinking among researchers.

From New York Times • Jan. 19, 2023

The new Posé is a slimline take on Samsung’s Serif; it comes in 42-inch, 48-inch, and 55-inch screen sizes and launches in the third quarter of 2022, starting in Europe.

From The Verge • Jun. 3, 2022

Serif fonts included the traditional script fonts familiar on homes all over town, many of them dating back to the original construction of many North Arlington homes in the 1940s and 1950s.

From Slate • Jun. 25, 2020