typographer
Americannoun
noun
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a person skilled in typography
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another name for compositor
Etymology
Origin of typographer
First recorded in 1635–45; typograph(y) + -er 1
Explanation
A typographer is someone who designs printed words. If you admire a beautifully designed font, you can thank a typographer. Famous typefaces, like Helvetica, Futura, or Times New Roman, were all designed by typographers. When you think of how many printed words we all read on a regular basis, both on paper and on screens, you'll start to realize what an important job typographers do. They arrange type in a way that aids communication and conveys a mood along with the words. Typographer adds the Greek typos, "dent or impression," to grapheia, "writing."
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.
Hailing from a dyed-in-the-wool Social Democratic family, she is the daughter of a typographer and a pre-school teacher.
From Barron's ● Mar. 24, 2026
Frederiksen, raised by a typographer father and a mother who worked in daycare, joined youth politics to fight social inequality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
Back then, the personal computer revolution was just beginning, and typographer Vincent Connaire was working on new fonts.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2021
It was designed by Roger Excoffon, a French typographer and graphic designer whose work departed from the Modernist trends that characterized midcentury type design.
From New York Times ● Nov. 21, 2018
The typographer should be guided by them but he need not make mathematical calculations if his eyes be trained to judge relative attraction values so that he can arrange his various masses to secure balance.
From Applied Design for Printers A Handbook of the Principles of Arrangement, with Brief Comment on the Periods of Design Which Have Most Strongly Influenced Printing Typographic Technical Series for Apprentices #43 by Gage, Harry Lawrence
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.
