Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
letterer

letterer

1 7.3
A person who writes or paints words on signs and art
  • noun
  • /ˈlɛtərər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : rotulista
  • As a professional letterer, she transformed plain walls into vibrant works of art with her skillful designs.

Examples

  • The letterer carefully inscribed the title on the sign for the new café.

  • The only suggestion that Image made to us when we were initially pitching the project was that we should get a different letterer, which turned out to be an excellent choice.

    Blog text (19)

  • Yet, significantly, in two instances he depicted himself as a letterer or sign painter.

    Academic text (2011)

  • It's also the ink used by letterers in comic books.

    Dracula's Guest (2008)

  • So if Crow was the illustrator... Then Crow's friend Daemon was the letterer.

    Dracula's Guest (2008)

  • Join letterer Dave Sharpe and Andy for a seven-week course on lettering comics and production work.

    Blog text (31)

  • Tom Orzechowski (he's one of the greatest letterers ever!) and Dean Motter were there with us.

    Blog text (5)

  • Writers, artists, letterers, and colorists would be paid a flat rate for the pages they turned in, without any royalties for sales or equity for their creations.

    Blog text (29)

  • Mussburger is seated at his desk looking at the file picture and clipping; the sign letterer/scraper is leaning over his shoulder, having just put them down.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • At the comic book convention, fans eagerly gathered to meet their favorite letterer and get autographs.

Synonyms

engraver
vsletterer
4 5.3

A person who cuts designs or words into metal, wood and glass

makes letters by painting or inscribing on surfaces rather than cutting
calligrapher
vsletterer
3 7.0

A person who writes beautiful, decorative letters by hand

uses more physical methods to make letters for signs and art not handwriting
sign painter
vsletterer
1 3.7

A person who makes signs and billboards by hand

is broader and also inscribes letters on artwork and other materials
penman
vsletterer
  • Archaic
1 7.7

A person who writes for a living, for example a journalist or author

specialises instead in producing painted or inscribed letters for visual work
signwriter
vsletterer
  • UK
4.7

A person who paints and designs signs for shops and public places

is more general and covers lettering on various art forms
calligraphist
vsletterer
8.4

A person who makes beautiful writing by hand

focuses on making visible letters on surfaces rather than handwriting

How Skilled

letterer
  • Specialized
1 7.3

Surface Forms

letterer singular
letterers plural

Morphology

letterer = letter (transparent) = letter + er

Standard agentive formation: a person who performs the action 'to letter' is 'letter' + '-er'.

Etymology

Letterer comes from the common word letter, which means 'a written character', plus the ending -er, meaning 'one who' as in 'writer' or 'painter'. So a letterer is literally 'one who makes letters', someone who paints or writes letters on signs, plaques, or comic pages.