cursive

[kur-siv]

adjective

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

2. Printing.,  in flowing strokes resembling handwriting.

noun

1. a cursive letter or character.

2. Printing.,  a style of typeface simulating handwriting.

cursive

/ 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

noun

1. a cursive letter or printing type

2. a manuscript written in cursive letters

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of cursive¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of cursive¹

C18: from Medieval Latin cursīvus running, ultimately from Latin currere to run

Example Sentences

She could play chess, divide fractions, write in cursive, and do a strong-voiced recitation of at least three different Shakespearean sonnets.

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Lady Constance rarely had the patience to write these herself, and her cursive letters were loopy to the point of being illegible.

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“Will do,” it read in his own dear, sweet, familiar cursive, with its poetic loops and flourishes.

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Alexander had stubbornly kept his blanket wrapped around him like a cape, and no one had taken a stab at the cursive letters.

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She took a picture of the grimy hotel room where she stayed, capturing the swirling cursive on the sign for the dialysis center across the street in the background.

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