1.
skilled handwriting; beautiful penmanship
Refers to handwriting that is skilfully and beautifully executed, or to a person who writes with such skill. Often used as a na-adjective (達筆な) to describe someone's writing or the person themselves.
祖父は達筆だ。
My grandfather has beautiful handwriting.
達筆すぎて読めない。
The handwriting is so skilled that I can't read it.
年賀状が達筆な字で書かれていた。
The New Year's card was written in beautiful handwriting.
達筆な人の手紙は、読むのに苦労することがある。
Letters from people with skilled handwriting can sometimes be hard to read.
Positive term for handwriting that shows mastery of brush or pen technique. Paradoxically, 達筆 handwriting can be difficult to read because of its flowing, cursive style — a common humorous observation in Japanese. Used as both a noun and a na-adjective.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 達筆な字: beautifully written characters
- 達筆な人: person with beautiful handwriting
- 達筆すぎて読めない: too skillfully written to read
- 達筆で書く: to write with skilled penmanship
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 悪筆: bad handwriting — the antonym; messy, hard-to-read writing
- 美文字: beautiful writing — newer, casual term for aesthetically pleasing handwriting
- 能筆: skilled calligraphy — more formal synonym, emphasizing calligraphic skill