HTML <big> Element

HTML <big> Element

The <big> element was historically used to display text one size larger than the surrounding text. It was a presentational element that changed the visual size of text without giving that text any additional semantic meaning.

Historical Syntax

Older HTML documents may contain markup similar to the following:

<p>This is normal text and <big>this text is larger</big>.</p>

This code is shown for historical reference only. The <big> element should not be used when creating or updating modern HTML.

Attributes

The <big> element did not have any element-specific attributes. Older implementations allowed applicable global attributes, but the element itself simply increased the displayed size of its contents.

Historical Use

The <big> element provided a quick way to make a portion of text appear larger than the surrounding content. Browsers generally rendered its contents one step larger according to their historical font-size scale.

The element could also be nested to produce progressively larger text. This approach was based entirely on presentation rather than the meaning or structure of the content.

Why It Became Obsolete

The <big> element controlled presentation directly through HTML rather than describing the meaning of its content. As CSS became the standard way to control typography and visual presentation, a dedicated HTML element for making text larger was no longer necessary.

CSS provides much greater control over text size, including relative and absolute units, responsive sizing, reusable classes, and styles that can be changed without altering the HTML structure. The <big> element is therefore obsolete in modern HTML.

Modern Alternative

Use the CSS font-size property when larger text is purely a presentation choice. A class can be applied wherever the larger text treatment is needed.

<p>This is normal text and <span class="larger-text">this text is larger</span>.</p>

.larger-text {
  font-size: 1.25em;
}

If larger text also represents a heading or another meaningful type of content, use the appropriate semantic HTML element rather than choosing an element based only on its default appearance.

Legacy Browser Support

Many browsers continue to recognize the <big> element and may still display its contents larger than surrounding text for compatibility with older webpages. This legacy behavior does not mean the element is valid for use in modern HTML.

Existing <big> elements should be replaced with appropriate semantic HTML and CSS when older webpages are updated.

For detailed legacy browser compatibility information, see Can I Use: HTML <big> Element .

Related Elements

The obsolete <big> element was used only to change text size. Modern HTML should use meaningful elements such as <strong> when text has strong importance or heading elements such as <h1> through <h6> when the content is a heading, while CSS controls their visual size.

Specifications

The <big> element is listed as an entirely obsolete, non-conforming feature in the WHATWG HTML Living Standard . Authors should use CSS to control text size instead.