line-break

The line-break CSS property sets how to break lines of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean (CJK) text when working with punctuation and symbols.

/* Keyword values */
line-break: auto;
line-break: loose;
line-break: normal;
line-break: strict;
line-break: anywhere;

/* Global values */
line-break: inherit;
line-break: initial;
line-break: unset;

Syntax

Values

auto

Break text using the default line break rule.

loose

Break text using the least restrictive line break rule. Typically used for short lines, such as in newspapers.

normal

Break text using the most common line break rule.

strict

Break text using the most stringent line break rule.

anywhere

There is a soft wrap opportunity around every typographic character unit, including around any punctuation character or preserved white spaces, or in the middle of words, disregarding any prohibition against line breaks, even those introduced by characters with the GL, WJ, or ZWJ character class or mandated by the word-break property. The different wrapping opportunities must not be prioritized. Hyphenation is not applied.

Formal definition

Formal syntax

auto | loose | normal | strict | anywhere

Examples

Setting text wrapping

See whether the text is wrapped before "々", "ぁ" and "。".

HTML

<div lang="ja">
  <p class="wrapbox auto">auto:<br>そこは湖のほとりで木々が輝いていた。<br>その景色に、美しいなぁと思わずつぶやいた。</p>
  <p class="wrapbox loose">loose:<br>そこは湖のほとりで木々が輝いていた。<br>その景色に、美しいなぁと思わずつぶやいた。</p>
  <p class="wrapbox normal">normal:<br>そこは湖のほとりで木々が輝いていた。<br>その景色に、美しいなぁと思わずつぶやいた。</p>
  <p class="wrapbox strict">strict:<br>そこは湖のほとりで木々が輝いていた。<br>その景色に、美しいなぁと思わずつぶやいた。</p>
  <p class="wrapbox anywhere">anywhere:<br>そこは湖のほとりで木々が輝いていた。<br>その景色に、美しいなぁと思わずつぶやいた。</p>
</div>

CSS

.wrapbox { width: 10em; margin: 0.5em; white-space: normal; vertical-align: top; display: inline-block; }
.auto { line-break: auto; }
.loose { line-break: loose; }
.normal { line-break: normal; }
.strict { line-break: strict; }
.anywhere { line-break: anywhere; }

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility