Illustration of sans serif
sans serif
noun
sans ser·if san-ˈser-əf 
sanz-
variants or sanserif
: a letter or typeface with no serifs
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web In New York City, anonymous activists have twice hung large green banners with text in white, capital, sans serif letters. 
John Corso-esquivel, The Conversation, 22 July 2022 The approvals granted Friday included plans for the sign proclaiming the Sherwin-Williams corporate name near the top of the skyscraper on its east- and west-facing facades in italic, or slanted, letters in a sans serif font. Steven Litt, cleveland, 3 June 2022 The @rhode Instagram, which has almost 40,000 followers, is similarly mysterious: There are no posts, just an avatar with the company’s name in a black sans serif font on an alabaster background. WSJ, 1 Feb. 2022 Orlando map heads and graphics lovers will be sucked into a wall piece that portrays the City Beautiful’s neighborhoods with jaunty, sans serif type created by Nativemaps. Dewayne Bevil, orlandosentinel.com, 26 Nov. 2021 Since the early 1980s, the engine of her work, and its effectiveness, has been formatting — the candy apple red bar containing white sans serif type, rendered in Futura Bold Oblique, conveying aphorisms that could be taunts or pleas. New York Times, 11 Nov. 2021 Today, easier-to-read sans serif fonts, the ones without the little tails, are used. Annette Richmond, Forbes, 8 Nov. 2021 Essaibi George’s logo, sans serif type arranged in a neat rectangle with a row of stars, looks highly traditional. BostonGlobe.com, 27 Oct. 2021 Gotham, for instance, has 66 styles; the sans serif Mallory that Frere-Jones designed has 110 weights, five widths, and supports a range of languages, from Acehnese to Zulu. Anne Quito, Quartz, 23 Oct. 2021 See More
John Corso-esquivel, The Conversation, 22 July 2022 The approvals granted Friday included plans for the sign proclaiming the Sherwin-Williams corporate name near the top of the skyscraper on its east- and west-facing facades in italic, or slanted, letters in a sans serif font. Steven Litt, cleveland, 3 June 2022 The @rhode Instagram, which has almost 40,000 followers, is similarly mysterious: There are no posts, just an avatar with the company’s name in a black sans serif font on an alabaster background. WSJ, 1 Feb. 2022 Orlando map heads and graphics lovers will be sucked into a wall piece that portrays the City Beautiful’s neighborhoods with jaunty, sans serif type created by Nativemaps. Dewayne Bevil, orlandosentinel.com, 26 Nov. 2021 Since the early 1980s, the engine of her work, and its effectiveness, has been formatting — the candy apple red bar containing white sans serif type, rendered in Futura Bold Oblique, conveying aphorisms that could be taunts or pleas. New York Times, 11 Nov. 2021 Today, easier-to-read sans serif fonts, the ones without the little tails, are used. Annette Richmond, Forbes, 8 Nov. 2021 Essaibi George’s logo, sans serif type arranged in a neat rectangle with a row of stars, looks highly traditional. BostonGlobe.com, 27 Oct. 2021 Gotham, for instance, has 66 styles; the sans serif Mallory that Frere-Jones designed has 110 weights, five widths, and supports a range of languages, from Acehnese to Zulu. Anne Quito, Quartz, 23 Oct. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
probably from sans + modification of Dutch schreef stroke — more at serif
First Known Use
1830, in the meaning defined above