cursive

1 of 2

adjective

cur·​sive ˈkər-siv 

: running, coursing: such as

a

of writing : flowing often with the strokes of successive characters joined and the angles rounded

b

: having a flowing, easy, impromptu character

cursively adverb

cursiveness noun

cursive

2 of 2

noun

1

: a manuscript written in cursive writing

also : cursive writing

2

: a style of printed letter resembling handwriting

Examples of cursive in a Sentence

Noun

He writes in cursive when he takes notes.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Here is a look at the flag, and the team used more of a cursive font this year compared to the 2025 version. — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 5 Aug. 2026

However, many states have brought cursive requirements back to the classroom, with 27 states now mandating cursive instruction. — Jillian Pretzel, Parents, 30 June 2026

Noun

The letters from Mexico arrived on graph paper, in a tight cursive that the South African students had never seen before. — Ryan Lenora Brown, Christian Science Monitor, 12 Aug. 2026

The day after Morrison and the children assaulted her son, the boy’s mother walked into the Craighead County Sheriff’s Office to write out a report in neat, looping cursive. — Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica, 15 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

borrowed from Medieval Latin cursīvus, from Latin cursus, past participle of currere "to run" + -īvus -ive — more at current entry 1

Note: The word cursīva (scrīptūra "writing" presumably understood) is used for scripts by the German Benedictine monk and scribe Leonhard Wagner (Leonardus Wirchlin, 1453-1522) in Proba centum scripturarum una manu exaratarum (1507), which named and exemplified a hundred different hands from the 11th century to the author's own day. It is unclear if the word was used earlier. (There is no lemma for cursīvus in the Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch.) For Latin cursus as the past participle of currere—for expected *co(r)stus—see note at course entry 1.

Noun

derivative of cursive entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

circa 1784, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1838, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for cursive

• aversive
• coercive
• discursive
• dispersive
• immersive
• recursive
• subversive

Kids Definition

cursive

adjective

cur·​sive

ˈkər-siv

: written or formed with the strokes of the letters joined together and the angles rounded

cursive handwriting

cursive noun

cursively adverb