In typography the part of a letter that has no ascender e.g. the upper part of a ‘d’, and no descender e.g. the lower part of a ‘g’. In typefaces/font families the x-height can be short and squat or can be high.
A typeface with a low x-height is often seen as more elegant, more refined and more readable. Low x-height type is seen to be more readable because the long ascenders and descenders create more recognisable word shapes or silhouettes. These typefaces are often used in novels.
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