How to Write Merry Christmas in Cursive

By Maya Chen, lettering designer and type educator · Checked by Jordan Hale · October 2026 · How we review content

"Merry Christmas" in Playwrite US Trad, a typeface modelled on traditional school cursive.

Merry Christmas is two long words, fourteen letters, and a lot of cursive. Both words start with capitals that connect, the first word has a double r, and the second packs in a tall h, a crossed t and a run of rounded letters. It is a classic card greeting, so the lettering needs a steady, even slant.

Copy and paste "Merry Christmas" in cursive

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Letter by letter

Each distinct letter in "Merry Christmas" has its own stroke-by-stroke page.

The joins in Merry Christmas

Me: Capital M connects, so its final undercurve flows into the e without a lift. Keep the e small and the M's three humps even, because a wobbly M undermines the opening of the whole greeting.
rr: Give each r its own peak and shoulder, with the connecting stroke about as wide as a shoulder. The two r's must be identical in height and slant, or the word looks like merry with a smudge in the middle.
ry: The r's undercurve exit rolls over into the y's first hump. Close the y's loop at the baseline and keep the descender slim, so it does not crash into the capital C on the next line if you write on two lines.
Ch: Capital C connects in Zaner-Bloser cursive because it ends in an undercurve. Sweep straight into the tall h loop, and keep the loop taller than the C's top curl so the h clearly reads as an h.
st: After the s closes, its exit rises to the t's height before you pull the stem down. Leave the cross for the end, and keep the s peak at the midline so the two points are different heights.
tm: The t exits at the baseline, and the stroke has to roll over into the m's first hump. Keep the join round, not pointed, or the first hump of the m looks like part of a u.

Tricky spots

The rr in merry: Two r's in a row can easily turn into a wavy line. Practise the pair alone on a guideline, making two clear peaks, two shoulders and two drops, then place it between the e and the y.
Capitals M and C: Each word begins with a capital that joins, so match their sizes and slants. If the M is twice the height of the C, or leans a different way, the greeting looks like two separate phrases pasted together.
Crossing and dotting: Christmas has one i dot and one t cross, and the s, m, a and s between them all need to be crisp. Dot and cross at the end, with the cross about as long as the t is tall.

Capitals

Merry Christmas is capitalised as a holiday greeting, with both M and C in capitals. In Zaner-Bloser cursive both capitals connect to the next letter, so each word can be one continuous stroke. If you prefer lowercase merry christmas for a casual caption, the word is smooth, but the capitals add warmth on a card.

Variations and styles

On a card, write Merry on one line and Christmas below, with the C large and the tail of the final s flowing to a small star or holly. Gift tags can use just Merry, with the year beneath. In brush calligraphy, thicken the downstrokes of M, h and t, and use red or green. A signature-style version can join the two words with a swash.

Printable practice sheet

Trace the grey letters, then write your own on the empty lines. Prints on one page (Letter or A4).

Cursive practice: Merry Christmas

Name: ____________________ coolletteringgenerator.com

Copy-paste versions of Merry Christmas

Two glyphs in ℳℯ𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒞𝒽𝓇𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓂𝒶𝓈 come from Letterlike Symbols: ℳ (U+2133) for the capital M and ℯ (U+212F) for the e in Merry. Christmas has no e, g or o, so the whole second word is regular math script, including its capital C. Bold script 𝓜𝓮𝓻𝓻𝔂 𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓶𝓪𝓼 stays in one block for both words.

Merry Christmas in cursive: questions

Do the capitals connect in Merry Christmas?

In Zaner-Bloser cursive both do. The M ends with an undercurve that flows into the e, and the C does the same into the h. In some Palmer-style hands the capital may end inside the letter, in which case you lift and begin the next letter beside it.

How do I write the rr in merry?

Write each r with a sharp peak, a short shoulder and a drop to the baseline, joined by an undercurve exit. Keep the two the same height and slant. A flat or rounded peak turns the pair into a wavy line.

How should I space the two words?

Finish Merry with the y's loop, lift and leave a gap about the width of an o before the C. On a card with two lines, centre the shorter word and align the baseline of each, so the greeting looks neat.

Which part of Christmas is hardest to write?

The middle, from s through t, m and a. The s needs a sharp peak, the t a clear spike, and the m a round join with three humps. Practise the run s, t, m, a on a guideline, then add the capital C at the front.