superscript

American  

[soo-per-skript] / ˈsu pərˌskrɪpt /

adjective

1. Printing. superior.

---

noun

1. Printing. superior.

2. Obsolete. an address on a letter; superscription.

superscript British  

/ ˈsuːpəˌskrɪpt /

adjective

1. printing (of a character) written or printed above the line; superior Compare subscript

---

noun

1. a superscript or superior character

2. obsolete a superscription on a document, letter, etc

Etymology

Origin of superscript

1580–90; < Latin superscrīptus (past participle of superscrībere to superscribe ), equivalent to super- super- + scrīptus written; script

Example Sentences

It had a blue cover, she said, and was unmarked except for “cuaderno de trabajo” written in the italicized superscript taught in elementary schools around Mexico.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2024

Move a regular comma up to the superscript position and you’ve got a close quote.

From Washington Post • Feb. 13, 2022

What looks like an intuitive depiction about the possibility of ‘time-travel’ actually contains complicated maneuvering of constants and variables with superscript and subscript indices, as well as of manifold geometry.

From Scientific American • Mar. 22, 2013

Word's stylistic preferences range from the irritating—the superscript "th" on ordinal numbers, the eagerness to forcibly indent any numbered list it detects—to the outright wrong.

From Slate • Apr. 11, 2012

We decided on “F cubed”—which stood for “Finding Fun and Friends”—with a white capital F and a white superscript three on an orange background.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas