<small>: The Side Comment element

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 <small> HTML element represents side-comments and small print, like copyright and legal text, independent of its styled presentation. By default, it renders text within it one font-size smaller, such as from small to x-small.

Try it

<p>
  MDN Web Docs is a learning platform for Web technologies and the software that
  powers the Web.
</p>

<hr />

<p>
  <small
    >The content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5
    Generic License.</small
  >
</p>

small {
  font-size: 0.7em;
}

Attributes

This element only includes the global attributes.

Examples

Basic usage

html
<p>
  This is the first sentence.
  <small>This whole sentence is in small letters.</small>
</p>

Result

CSS alternative

html
<p>
  This is the first sentence.
  <span class="small">This whole sentence is in small letters.</span>
</p>
css
.small {
  font-size: 0.8em;
}

Result

Notes

Although the <small> element, like the <b> and <i> elements, may be perceived to violate the principle of separation between structure and presentation, all three are valid in HTML. Authors are encouraged to use their best judgement when determining whether to use <small> or CSS.

Technical summary

Content categories Flow content, phrasing content.
Permitted content Phrasing content
Tag omission None; must have both a start tag and an end tag.
Permitted parents Any element that accepts phrasing content, or any element that accepts flow content.
Implicit ARIA role generic
Permitted ARIA roles Any
DOM interface HTMLElement

Specifications

Specification
HTML
# the-small-element

Browser compatibility

See also