cursive
Americanadjective
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(of handwriting) in flowing strokes with the letters joined together.
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Printing. in flowing strokes resembling handwriting.
noun
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cursives
plural
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a cursive letter or character.
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Printing. a style of typeface simulating handwriting.
adjective
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of or relating to handwriting in which letters are formed and joined in a rapid flowing style
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printing of or relating to typefaces that resemble handwriting
noun
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a cursive letter or printing type
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a manuscript written in cursive letters
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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cursivenessnoun
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noncursiveadjective
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transcursiveadjective
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cursivelyadverb
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noncursivelyadverb
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transcursivelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
Vocabulary lists containing cursive
Make a Run for It: Cur, Curs
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Frindle
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Brown Girl Dreaming
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Instagram did something bold and brave this week: It unveiled a new wordmark for the first time, stepping away from its signature cursive to a new and strange part-modern, part-script font.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 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
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
“That’s part of the fun,” Van Hulsen says as she brings over a sterling silver ice cream scoop engraved with “There’s nothing wrong with me that ice cream can’t fix” in barely perceptible cursive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2026
It’s simple cursive, and reads, Happy Birthday, Mom!
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
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
This is the reading of all the uncials but eight, of all the cursives but fifteen.
From The Causes of the Corruption of the Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels Being the Sequel to The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels by Edward Miller
Some critics will of course insist that, on the contrary, both words are spurious accretions to the text of the cursives; and they must say so, if they will.
From The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels by John William Burgon
Now, as for the cursives, with the memorable exception of Evann.
From The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels by John William Burgon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
