How to Write Best friend in Cursive

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

"Best friend" in Playwrite US Trad, a typeface modelled on traditional school cursive.

Best friend is two words and eleven letters, and almost every hard cursive habit shows up somewhere in it: a bridge letter at the start, a crossed t in the middle, the one letter that drops below the line and rises above it, and a run of small letters that must stay evenly spaced. It is a popular phrase for cards, bracelets and tattoos, so the writing needs to look deliberate.

Copy and paste "Best friend" in cursive

Open in the cursive text generator →

Letter by letter

Each distinct letter in "Best friend" has its own stroke-by-stroke page.

The joins in Best friend

be: The b finishes with its checkstroke at the midline, so the e starts from a short bridge rather than the baseline. Dip the bridge a little before the e loop opens, or the e squeezes shut and reads like an i.
st: After the s closes, let its exit stroke rise to the height of the t before you pull the stem straight down. Leave the t uncrossed until the whole word is finished, then cross it in one smooth bar.
fr: Close the f's lower loop right on the baseline, then rise to the r's peak. Keep the r clearly separate from the f crossing in front of it, because the two strokes sit close and can blur into one blob.
ie: The i's exit rises to the midline and turns into the e loop with no dip. Dot the i last; if you dot it mid-word the dot tends to drift toward the e and turn the pair into a muddled shape.
nd: The n exits on the baseline and the d begins with the over-and-back oval at the midline, so the join climbs. Close the d firmly and then carry its stem up to the top line before retracing.

Tricky spots

The space between the words: Finish the t and its cross, lift, and leave a gap about the width of a lowercase o before starting f. Joining t straight into f is a common beginner mistake and makes the phrase read as one long word.
f in friend: This f has both loops, the tall upper one and the narrow lower one. Make the lower loop close on the right at the baseline, and keep it slim so it does not collide with the r that follows it.
Dots and cross: There is one t cross and one i dot to add. Place them in a single pass after finishing both words, aiming the dot directly above the i stem and the cross at about two thirds of the t's height.

Capitals

Capitalise both words on a card or a gift tag: Best Friend. The capital B has two bumps and does not join the next letter, so lift after the lower bump and start the e close beside it. The capital F is a wavy cap with a separate stem and crossbar, and it also stands alone. Lowercase best friend is fine in a signature line or a casual note and avoids two awkward lift-and-restart capitals.

Variations and styles

On a card, write best friend small on one line and add a flourish under the final d. For a signature-style version, drop the capitals and let a long exit stroke from the d sweep back under both words. In calligraphy, thicken the downstrokes of b, t and f and keep every joining stroke hairline. Friendship bracelets and matching charms often use just BFF, but the full phrase in cursive reads as warmer and more personal.

As a tattoo

Best friend tattoos are often done in matching pairs, so choose a version both of you can wear. The two words have different heights, so keep line weight even and the x-height generous, at least 8 to 10 mm, so the e and the loop of the lower f stay open as the ink spreads. A shared handwriting sample of your own signature or a friend's note makes the tattoo more personal than a standard font.

Printable practice sheet

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

Cursive practice: Best friend

Name: ____________________ coolletteringgenerator.com

Copy-paste versions of Best friend

Copy-paste best friend comes in script and bold script. In plain script the capital B is the borrowed Letterlike character ℬ, the capital F is ℱ and each of the two e letters is ℯ, so the phrase mixes characters from two blocks and can look slightly uneven in some fonts. Bold script 𝓑𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓕𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭 has no borrowed letters and is the safer choice for bios and captions.

Best friend in cursive: questions

Is best friend written as one word or two in cursive?

Two words, with a visible gap between them. Finish the t, add its cross, lift your pen and start the f a little way off. Joining the last t to the first f would force a long awkward stroke and make the phrase look like a single made-up word.

Does the capital B connect to the e in Best?

In traditional Zaner-Bloser and Palmer cursive, no. After the lower bump of the B you lift the pencil and begin the e just beside it. Some people add a short exit stroke so it joins, which also works, but the school model teaches the lift.

Which letters make best friend hard to write?

The b with its checkstroke, the f with its lower loop and the two uncrossed letters that need finishing at the end. If you slow down on those three points, the remaining letters, e, s, r, n and d, are all simple baseline joins.

What is a good alternative to best friend in cursive?

Short versions like bestie or just the friend's name in cursive are easier to write and read well at small sizes. For a longer keepsake you could write best friends forever across two lines, using the same joins described here.