written
Set on paper
Written is the past participle of write, used with auxiliaries to form perfect tenses: I have written three letters today.
As an adjective, it describes something set down in words rather than spoken: a written exam, written permission, a written statement.
What's written carries weight—it's documented, official, on the record.
The written word suggests permanence compared to speech.
New and unusual
- poetryMetrical literary composition
- proseUnversified language
- fictionImagined narrative work
- nonfictionLiterature about real events
novella · short story · epic · sonnet · haiku · memoir · essay · screenplay
Academic argument requiring defense
- dissertationExtended academic treatise
- paperPressed pulp for writing
- reportFormal written findings
- abstractCondensed version of text
citation · bibliography · footnote · journal · article · review · critique · analysis
Language's letter system
- scriptWritten words for performance
- textWritten or printed words
- charactersPersons in a narrative
- hieroglyphicsSymbolic picture-based writing
cuneiform · calligraphy · notation · shorthand · runes · kanji · typography · orthography
Written symbol or message
- noteShort written record
- messageTransmitted communication
- correspondenceExchanged written communication
- memoBrief internal message
email · postcard · telegram · invitation · petition · complaint · testimony · declaration
Written or electronic file
- contractEnforceable written agreement
- certificateFormal written attestation
- deedWritten property conveyance
- willFaculty of deliberate choice
charter · constitution · treaty · warrant · receipt · ledger · log · register
Evaluative examination
- assignmentAllocated work or duty
- essayShort argumentative prose work
- responseAnswer to stimulus
- answerSolution to query
examination · quiz · assessment · exercise · prompt · submission
novel
New and unusual
nonfiction · novella · short story · epic · sonnet · haiku · memoir · essay · screenplay · manuscript
thesis
Academic argument requiring defense
- dissertationExtended academic treatise
- paperPressed pulp for writing
- reportFormal written findings
abstract · citation · bibliography · footnote · journal · article · review · critique · analysis · commentary
alphabet
Language's letter system
- scriptWritten words for performance
- textWritten or printed words
- charactersPersons in a narrative
hieroglyphics · cuneiform · calligraphy · notation · shorthand · runes · kanji · typography · orthography · cursive
letter
Written symbol or message
- noteShort written record
- messageTransmitted communication
- correspondenceExchanged written communication
memo · email · postcard · telegram · invitation · petition · complaint · testimony · declaration · request
document
Written or electronic file
- contractEnforceable written agreement
- certificateFormal written attestation
- deedWritten property conveyance
will · charter · constitution · treaty · warrant · receipt · ledger · log · register · minutes
test
Evaluative examination
- assignmentAllocated work or duty
- essayShort argumentative prose work
- responseAnswer to stimulus
answer · examination · quiz · assessment · exercise · prompt · submission
- questionsquestion, inquiry, questions, query, interrogatives
- Language Wordsverbal, oral, spoken, fluent, articulate
- predeterminedfate, destiny, kismet, preordained, prearranged
- documentedfilmed, photographed, recorded, logged, archived
- verb formsam, are, is, was, were
- predestinationpredestination, foreordination, preordination, election, foreknowledge
writtenspoken
Expressed in words aloud
oral · verbal · uttered · verbalized · vocalized
writtenunwritten
Not set down formally
uncodified · tacit · implicit · customary · traditional
writtenephemeral
Lasting very briefly
transient · undocumented · unrecorded · fleeting · impermanent
- written offRegarded as worthless
- written in stonePermanently established, unalterable
- written downPreserved in text
- written upOfficially reported for violation
- written wordLanguage in visible form
- written testAssessment done in writing
unwritten, handwritten, rewritten, typewritten, overwritten, prewritten, miswritten, written language