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.
Does anyone think Mr. Canellos and Mrs. Tarr would draw a different conclusion about Justice Alito if teenage Sam’s handwriting had been atrocious?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Other forensic experts, particularly in handwriting analysis, concluded that the will didn’t match Hughes’s strokes, recalled Lyter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
"The same way you are familiar with your family members or best friend's handwriting - the handling of the paint, the way it was presented all spoke instantly of the great master Joan Eardley."
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026
“The childish scribbling handwriting is also a red herring for some of the more serious and sinister themes in the book, “ says Cash.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026
“This book was Gram’s. I always thought my grandpa wrote this inscription because of what it says, but you can’t really read the signature, can you? It matches, Fina. The handwriting matches the journal’s.”
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
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.
