word-spacing
Baseline
Widely available
This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.
The word-spacing CSS property sets the length of space between words and between tags.
Try it
word-spacing: normal;
word-spacing: 1rem;
word-spacing: 4px;
word-spacing: -0.4ch;
<section id="default-example">
<p id="example-element">
As much mud in the streets as if the waters had but newly retired from the
face of the earth, and it would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus,
forty feet long or so, waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill.
</p>
</section>
@font-face {
src: url("/shared-assets/fonts/variable-fonts/AmstelvarAlpha-VF.ttf");
font-family: "Amstelvar";
font-style: normal;
}
section {
font-size: 1.2em;
font-family: "Amstelvar", serif;
}
Syntax
/* Keyword value */
word-spacing: normal;
/* <length> values */
word-spacing: 3px;
word-spacing: 0.3em;
/* Global values */
word-spacing: inherit;
word-spacing: initial;
word-spacing: revert;
word-spacing: revert-layer;
word-spacing: unset;
Values
Accessibility
A large positive or negative word-spacing value will make the sentences the styling is applied to unreadable. For text styled with a very large positive value, the words will be so far apart that it will no longer appear to be a sentence. For text styled with a large negative value, the words will overlap each other to the point where the beginning and end of each word is unrecognizable.
Legible word-spacing must be determined on a case-by-case basis, as different font families have different character widths. There is no one value that can ensure all font families automatically maintain their legibility.
Examples
HTML
<div id="mozdiv1">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.</div>
<div id="mozdiv2">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.</div>
CSS
#mozdiv1 {
word-spacing: 15px;
}
#mozdiv2 {
word-spacing: 5em;
}
Formal definition
| Initial value | normal |
|---|---|
| Applies to | all elements. It also applies to ::first-letter and ::first-line. |
| Inherited | yes |
| Percentages | refer to the width of the affected glyph |
| Computed value | absolute <length> |
| Animation type | a length |
Formal syntax
word-spacing =
normal |
<length-percentage>
<length-percentage> =
<length> |
<percentage>
Specifications
| Specification |
|---|
| CSS Text Module Level 3 # word-spacing-property |
| Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 2 # WordSpacingProperty |
Browser compatibility
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See also
letter-spacing- SVG
word-spacingattribute