font-variant-position

The font-variant-position CSS property controls the use of alternate, smaller glyphs that are positioned as superscript or subscript.

The glyphs are positioned relative to the baseline of the font, which remains unchanged. These glyphs are typically used in <sub> and <sup> elements.

When the usage of these alternate glyphs is activated, if one character in the run doesn't have such a typographically-enhanced glyph, the whole set of characters of the run is rendered using a fallback method, synthesizing these glyphs.

These alternate glyphs share the same em-box and the same baseline as the rest of the font. They are merely graphically enhanced, and have no effect on the line-height and other box characteristics.

Syntax

css
/* Keyword values */
font-variant-position: normal;
font-variant-position: sub;
font-variant-position: super;

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

The font-variant-position property is specified as one of the keyword values listed below.

Values

normal

Deactivates alternate superscript and subscript glyphs.

sub

Activates subscript alternate glyphs. If, in a given run, one such glyph is not available for a character, all the characters in the run are rendered using synthesized glyphs.

super

Activates superscript alternate glyphs. If, in a given run, one such glyph is not available for a character, all the characters in the run are rendered using synthesized glyphs.

Formal definition

Initial valuenormal
Applies toall elements and text. It also applies to ::first-letter and ::first-line.
Inheritedyes
Computed valueas specified
Animation typediscrete

Formal syntax

font-variant-position = 
  normal  |
  sub     |
  super

Examples

Setting superscript and subscript forms

HTML

html
<p class="normal">Normal!</p>
<p class="super">Super!</p>
<p class="sub">Sub!</p>

CSS

css
p {
  display: inline;
}

.normal {
  font-variant-position: normal;
}

.super {
  font-variant-position: super;
}

.sub {
  font-variant-position: sub;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Fonts Module Level 4
# font-variant-position-prop

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also