手写体又称书写体，是每个人用手书写的字体，用意在于加快书写的速度，而对少数笔画的简写或连写。每个人的手写体因人而异。

手写体包括：用刻字的篆书、毛笔书写的隶书、楷书及草书、钢笔字等等，现时也发明了一些手写的艺术字体。同时中国大陆亦以简化字所用的字形作为手写体，以区别印刷体的字形。

Cursive, also known as longhand, script, handwriting, looped writing, joined-up writing, joint writing, or running writing is any style of penmanship in which the symbols of the language are written in a conjoined and/or flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster. Formal cursive is generally joined, but casual cursive is a combination of joins and pen lifts. The writing style can be further divided as "looped", "italic", or "connected".