handwriting
Americannoun
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writing done with a pen or pencil in the hand; script.
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a style or manner of writing by hand, especially that which characterizes a particular person; penmanship.
an eccentric handwriting.
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a handwritten document; manuscript.
idioms
noun
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writing by hand rather than by typing or printing
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a person's characteristic writing style
that signature is in my handwriting
Etymology
Origin of handwriting
1375–1425; late Middle English hand writyng; see hand + writing
Explanation
The process of writing something with a pen or pencil is handwriting. And you can call the way you write your handwriting too. By the time you finish the handwriting of a hundred Christmas cards, your handwriting will probably be illegible. When you're taking notes or working on your novel, your process can involve typing, dictating, or handwriting — scrawling on a piece of paper with a pen. Your typical style of scrawl is also called your handwriting — it's the script in which you write. Doctors are kind of famous for having terrible handwriting, while elementary school teachers tend to have very tidy, legible handwriting.
Vocabulary lists containing handwriting
List 2
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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.
The show is arranged in eight parts and begins with a large white wall at the entrance with the title of the show scrawled in RM’s handwriting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
Filled with curiosity, the 36-year-old charity worker examined it - noting "really neat" handwriting for a child - and posted on her local Facebook community group on Thursday morning to track down the author.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
The sticker will feature a butterfly — an image that Parton had long used in her logos — with the singer’s first name in her handwriting in the middle, all in Tennessee orange and white.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
A restaurant on the corporate campus, the Bourbon Street Cafe, offers employees lunch on Lenox plates inscribed with a quote in the founder’s handwriting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
It was always strange to see her handwriting, to see something that was so distinctly hers and that was still here.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
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.
