serif
Americannoun
noun
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.
Around the same time, Apple adopted the custom version of the serif font ITC Garamond that would later be immortalized in its “Think Different” ads.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025
Its name is a pun on the sans serif group of typefaces, and the island was depicted as being shaped like a semi-colon.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2025
This time she wrote her messages in a childlike sans serif that a designer friend of the artist later turned into a custom font, for more efficient printing.
From Los Angeles Times • May 2, 2024
The big divide in the world of typeface is between serif, or letters with small lines or tails attached to their edges, and sans serif, letters without those lines that have a smoother look.
From New York Times • Feb. 28, 2024
“I learned about serif and sans-serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great,” he wrote.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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.
