A serif font is a typeface whose letters end in small finishing strokes, called serifs, at the tips of the main strokes. If you look closely at the bottom of a capital “T” in Times New Roman, those little feet are serifs. Typefaces without them are called sans serif (“sans” is French for “without”). This guide explains what is a serif font in practical terms: how the parts work, the main families, and when a serif is the right pick.
What is a serif font made of? The anatomy of a serif letter
You do not need to memorize type jargon, but a few terms make it easier to tell serif styles apart.
- Serif: the small stroke or foot at the end of a stem or arm. It can be thin and hairline, thick and boxy, or curved into a wedge.
- Bracket: the curve that joins a serif to the stem. Some fonts have a smooth bracket; others meet at a sharp right angle.
- Stress: the angle of the thick and thin parts of a round letter like “o.” Older designs lean to the left, modern ones sit upright.
- Contrast: how different the thick and thin strokes are. Low contrast feels sturdy, high contrast feels elegant and dramatic.
- X-height, ascenders and descenders: the height of lowercase letters without stems, and the parts that stick up (b, d) or hang down (p, g).
The four main kinds of serif fonts
Type historians sort serif fonts by when they appeared and how they were drawn. The labels are a convenience, and designers do not always agree on where a given font falls, but they are useful.
| Style | Look | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Old-style | Diagonal stress, bracketed serifs, gentle contrast | Garamond, Caslon, Palatino |
| Transitional | More vertical stress, sharper serifs, moderate contrast | Baskerville, Times New Roman |
| Didone (modern) | Extreme thick-thin contrast, hairline flat serifs | Bodoni, Didot |
| Slab serif | Heavy, blocky serifs, little contrast | Rockwell, Courier, Clarendon-style faces |
Old-style
These come from the Renaissance printers who based their letters on pen-written forms. The result is warm and readable, which is why old-style faces have been used for book text for centuries.
Transitional
As printing and paper improved in the 18th century, designers made letters more precise and upright. Baskerville is the classic case. Times New Roman is generally filed here too, though it carries some old-style traits.
Didone
The name blends Didot and Bodoni. These faces have razor-thin hairlines against thick stems, which gives fashion magazines their glamorous look. They can shimmer at large sizes and fall apart at small ones, because the thin strokes get lost.
Slab serif
Slab serifs appeared in the 19th century for posters and advertising. They are sturdy and friendly. Typewriter faces such as Courier are slab serifs too, and you can browse more of that look in our typewriter fonts.
Serif vs. sans serif
The difference is more than a few strokes. A serif font tends to feel traditional, established and literary. A sans serif tends to feel clean, direct and modern. Neither is automatically easier to read; the research on this is mixed, and legibility depends far more on size, spacing, contrast with the background, and familiarity than on serifs alone.
That said, some habits are common:
- Printed books, newspapers and long articles lean on serif text faces.
- Screens, interfaces and small labels have often favored sans serif, although high-resolution displays have made serif text perfectly comfortable on the web.
- Many designers pair the two: a serif for headlines and a sans for body copy, or the reverse.
When to use a serif font
- Long reading. Books, essays, reports and blog articles suit a text serif such as Georgia, Garamond or Baskerville.
- Formal documents. Invitations, certificates, legal papers and academic work look at home in a serif. Our collection of sophisticated fonts has plenty of dressier options.
- Brands that want heritage or authority. Publishers, law firms, universities and luxury labels often choose serifs to signal trust and history.
- Headlines with personality. A high-contrast Didone or a bold slab can carry a headline without any decoration.
- Resumes and professional writing. A readable serif is a safe choice. See what font a resume should be for specifics.
Avoid thin Didones at tiny sizes, and avoid ornate display serifs for paragraphs. If the letters make the reader work, change the font.
Famous serif fonts you already know
- Times New Roman: commissioned for The Times of London in the early 1930s, and a default on computers for decades.
- Georgia: designed by Matthew Carter for screen reading in the 1990s.
- Garamond: a family of elegant old-style designs inspired by the 16th-century French printer Claude Garamond.
- Baskerville: named for John Baskerville, the 18th-century English printer.
- Bodoni: named for Giambattista Bodoni, the Italian printer of the late 1700s.
- Rockwell: a geometric slab serif from the 1930s.
Our serif fonts page collects many more, and the famous fonts page is a good place to see how well-known typefaces compare.
Tips for pairing and using serifs
- Use one serif and one sans at most for a simple document.
- Set body text between roughly 10 and 12 points in print, and about 16 pixels or more on the web.
- Give text a little extra line spacing, around 1.4 to 1.6 times the font size.
- If you need a font for commercial work, check the license first. Our free fonts are not all cleared for business use, and many designers turn to commercial fonts when a project needs clear rights.
Frequently asked questions
What is a serif font in simple terms?
It is a typeface with small strokes, called serifs, attached to the ends of the letters’ main lines. Times New Roman and Georgia are common examples.
Is Times New Roman a serif font?
Yes. It is a transitional serif originally designed for a newspaper and long a default in word processors.
Are serif fonts easier to read than sans serif?
Not universally. Studies are mixed. Size, spacing, contrast and the reader’s familiarity matter more than whether the letters have serifs.
What is the opposite of a serif font?
A sans serif font, such as Arial or Helvetica, which has no finishing strokes on the letters.
Is Arial a serif font?
No. Arial is a sans serif.
