WYSIWYG Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com Featured Games Cultural Writing tips Dictionary.com Thesaurus.com American British Scientific Etymology Examples WYSIWYG American   [wiz-ee-wig] / ˈwɪz iˌwɪg / adjective of, relating to, or noting a screen display that shows text exactly as it will appear in printed output, including underlining, various typefaces, as italics, line spacing, end-of-line breaks, and paragraph indentations. noun a WYSIWYG display. This program won't give you true WYSIWYG, but it does show boldface text and underlining. WYSIWYG British   / ˈwɪzɪˌwɪɡ / acronym what you see is what you get: referring to what is displayed on the screen being the same as what will be printed out "Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 WYSIWYG Scientific   / wĭz′ē-wĭg′ / Short for what you see is what you get. A word-processing or desktop publishing system in which text is displayed on a monitor exactly as it will be printed. Etymology Origin of WYSIWYG w(hat) y(ou) s(ee) i(s) w(hat) y(ou) g(et) Example Sentences Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com. See Examples For: WYSIWYG The earliest Macs popularized "what you see is what you get," or WYSIWYG; formatting on the screen largely reflected how the page would look in print. From Seattle Times ● Jan. 23, 2014 Describes a user interface under which "What You See Is All You Get"; an unhappy variant of WYSIWYG. From The Jargon File, Version 4.2.2, 20 Aug 2000 by Steele, Guy L. Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023 Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Word of the Day conspectus [kuhn-spek-tuhs] Get the Word of the Day Over 500,000 expert-authored dictionary and thesaurus entries Entry list Careers Contact us Help Cookies, terms & privacy IXL Learning's Dictionary Media Group reaches over 500,000,000 learners each year Essential reference for synonyms and antonyms Adaptive learning for English vocabulary Fun daily word games English dictionary and learning for Spanish speakers Spanish-English dictionary, translator, and learning French-English dictionary, translator, and learning Immersive learning for 25 languages Comprehensive K-12 personalized learning Marketplace for millions of educator-created resources 35,000+ worksheets, games, and lesson plans Fun educational games for kids Trusted tutors for 300+ subjects Math games and learning resources for kids © 2026 Dictionary Media Group, Inc., a division of IXL Learning by dictionary.com Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer. You'll remember them forever. Start training