A serif is the small decorative stroke that finishes off the main lines of a letter in many traditional fonts, like Times New Roman or Garamond.

Quick Scoop: What is serif?

In typography, a serif is a short line or flourish that appears at the ends of a letter’s main strokes, such as the little feet on the bottom of a capital “T” or the curves on a lowercase “n.” A font that uses these strokes is called a serif typeface, while fonts without them are called sans-serif (literally “without serif”).

Why designers care about serifs

  • Serif fonts are often seen as traditional , formal, or elegant, which is why they’re popular in books, newspapers, and magazines.
  • The serifs can help guide the eye from one letter to the next, which many designers feel improves long-form reading, especially in print.
  • Common serif fonts include Times New Roman, Garamond, Georgia, and Baskerville.

By contrast, sans-serif fonts like Arial or Helvetica use clean strokes with no extra endings and tend to look more modern, minimal, and screen-friendly.

Serif vs. sans-serif at a glance

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Feature Serif Sans-serif
Key visual trait Small strokes at letter ends (serifs).No strokes; clean endings.
Typical vibe Classic, formal, bookish, editorial.Modern, minimal, techy, casual.
Common use Print: books, newspapers, magazines.Digital: apps, websites, dashboards.
Reading experience Favored for long text in print.Favored for UI, short labels, screens.

Extra note

“Serif” can refer both to the little stroke itself and to the whole category of fonts that use those strokes.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.