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font-synthesis

The font-synthesis CSS property controls which missing typefaces, bold, italic, or small-caps, may be synthesized by the browser.

Try it

Syntax

font-synthesis: none;
font-synthesis: weight;
font-synthesis: style;
font-synthesis: small-caps;
font-synthesis: weight style small-caps;

/* Global values */
font-synthesis: inherit;
font-synthesis: initial;
font-synthesis: revert;
font-synthesis: revert-layer;
font-synthesis: unset;

Values

none

Indicates that no bold, italic, nor small-caps typeface may be synthesized.

weight

Indicates that a bold typeface may be synthesized if needed.

style

Indicates that an italic typeface may be synthesized if needed.

small-caps

Indicates that a small-caps typeface may be synthesized if needed.

Description

Most standard Western fonts include italic and bold variants, and some fonts include a small-caps variant. However, many fonts do not. Fonts used for Chinese, Japanese, Korean and other logographic scripts tend not to include these variants, and synthesizing them may impede the legibility of the text. In these cases, it may be desirable to switch off the browser's default font-synthesis.

Formal definition

Initial value weight style
Applies to all elements. It also applies to ::first-letter and ::first-line.
Inherited yes
Computed value as specified
Animation type discrete

Formal syntax

font-synthesis = 
none |
[ weight || style || small-caps ]

Examples

Disabling font synthesis

HTML

<em class="syn">Synthesize me! 站直。</em>
<br />
<em class="no-syn">Don't synthesize me! 站直。</em>

CSS

em {
  font-weight: bold;
}
.syn {
  font-synthesis: style weight small-caps;
}
.no-syn {
  font-synthesis: none;
}

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
font-synthesis 97 97 34 No 83 9 97 97 34 No 9 18.0
small-caps 97 97 93 No 83 10.1 97 97 93 No 10.3 18.0

See also

© 2005–2023 MDN contributors.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/font-synthesis