italic

adjective

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ital·ic | \ ə-ˈta-lik

, i-, ī- \

Definition of italic

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : of or relating to a type style with characters that slant upward to the right (as in "these words are italic") — compare roman

b : of or relating to a style of slanted cursive handwriting developed in the 15th and 16th centuries

2 capitalized : of or relating to ancient Italy, its peoples, or their Indo-European languages

italic

noun

Definition of italic (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : an italic character or type

2 capitalized : a branch of the Indo-European language family that includes Latin, Oscan, and Umbrian — see Indo-European Languages Table

Examples of italic in a Sentence

Noun These words are printed in italic. The type should be set in italics. These words are printed in italics.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Each hat includes the team’s nickname in big, bold italic letters and the team’s city in a lighter color and smaller, script font. — cleveland, 28 Mar. 2022 The recognizable Marshall logo, with its white italic script, now graces a range of headphones, earphones as well as wireless speakers. — Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2021 Nauman’s neon words, seven italic vices and seven vertical font virtues, flash intermittently and connect over one another around the Charles Lee Powell Structural Systems Laboratory building. — Seth Combs, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Oct. 2021 Author's Note: All italic quotations are from Agassiz's Seaside Studies in Natural History (1865). — Jessy Randall, Scientific American, 19 July 2021 Users can even apply italic, bold or light styling to letters and numbers without changing their alignment on spreadsheets. — Josh Wagner, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2020 Popular fonts, such as those preinstalled on your computer, typically come in four styles: regular, bold, italic, and bold italic. — Klint Finley, Wired, 9 Mar. 2020 The New York Times sent out a breaking news alert and threw a bold, italic headline across its front page announcing the potential change in policy. — Tina Nguyen, The Hive, 1 Mar. 2017 In each case, the subtitle appears in bold or italic, followed by a short paragraph in plain text describing the scope and results of the project. — Amy Lindgren, Twin Cities, 28 Jan. 2017 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun But only 20 of the images include captions written with the famous Sharpie; most are just typed out in a fontastic italic meant to convey Trump’s bold persona. — Washington Post, 11 Feb. 2022 Plus, pay close attention to scientific names in italics as there may be a mind-boggling array of cultivar varieties. — Jennifer Rude Klett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7 May 2020 Popular fonts, such as those preinstalled on your computer, typically come in four styles: regular, bold, italic, and bold italic. — Klint Finley, Wired, 9 Mar. 2020 At Keolis, the FRA oversight personnel identified a potential hazard and contractor/agency personnel implemented risk mitigation strategies to address it before a significant event occurred,’’ the experts wrote, with italics for emphasis. — BostonGlobe.com, 11 Dec. 2019 Type could be handwritten, created with a typewriter, or one of two fonts, Futura bold or Caslon italic. — Christopher Borrelli, chicagotribune.com, 11 May 2018 Stats in bold indicate National League leader; stats in italics and bold indicate MLB leader. — Emma Baccellieri, SI.com, 5 Sep. 2019 Bishop wrote, in uncharacteristic italics, after reading drafts of the poems. — Thomas Mallon, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2019 Records that were disclosed included sales brochures from LSI, featuring liberal use of italics, bold letters, multiple fonts and type sizes, all caps and exclamation points. — Ken Armstrong, ProPublica, 8 Dec. 2019 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'italic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.