Word-spacing property
Last updated: 2026-09-13
word-spacing Word-spacing property
The word-spacing CSS property sets the spacing between words in text. It is most visible in languages like English that separate words with spaces; since Chinese has no space-delimited words, the property generally has no effect on it.
| Category | |
|---|---|
| Initial Value | normal |
| Inherited | Yes |
| Applies To | |
| Animation Type | |
| CSS Version | CSS1 |
| Status | Standard |
📝 Syntax
word-spacing: normal | <length>;⚙️ Values
| Value | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
normal | Keyword | Default word spacing |
<length> | Type | A fixed word-spacing value |
▶ Example
Edit the code below and see the live result in the playground:
🌐 Browser Support
| Browser |  Chrome |
 Edge |
 Firefox |
 Safari |
 Opera |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| word-spacing | ✓ v1 | ✓ v12 | ✓ v1 | ✓ v1 | ✓ v1 |
| Supported in all major browsers | |||||
Tip： The property adjusts spacing around space characters; in Chinese paragraphs without spaces there is basically nothing to change.
❓ FAQ
QWhat is the difference between word-spacing and letter-spacing?
Aword-spacing adjusts the distance between words, operating on the space characters, so the effect is obvious in English; letter-spacing adjusts the distance between every character. Chinese has no space-delimited words, so word-spacing does almost nothing — use letter-spacing to change character gaps.
QDoes word-spacing have any visible effect on Chinese paragraphs?
AChinese has no space-separated words, so word-spacing is almost invisible in pure Chinese text; only actual spaces in the text (for example between English words) are affected. To change gaps between Hanzi, use letter-spacing instead.
QCan the word-spacing property accept negative values in a CSS rule?
AYes, negative values pull words closer together. Newer specs also allow percentages relative to the font's space width. In most cases em is the practical relative unit, for example word-spacing: 0.2em, which scales with the font size.
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