Few formats are as recognizable on X as the crossed-out confession: this weekend I’m going to w̶o̶r̶k̶ the beach. The struck word is what you’re supposed to say; the plain word is the truth. You can’t draw that line with a formatting button in a regular post, but you can paste text that already has the line built in.
How strikethrough text is built
Strikethrough works differently from bold or italic. Instead of replacing letters, it adds a combining mark after each character. A combining mark has no width of its own; it draws on top of the character before it, in this case a horizontal stroke. Line the marks up and you get a continuous strike through the whole word. Because the marks attach to anything, they work on numbers and accented letters too. Spaces are skipped, so every word gets its own line.
Cross out words in a post
- Type only the words you want crossed out into our generator.
- Pick a line style: a full strikethrough, a short stroke that usually leaves small gaps, a wavy tilde, or a diagonal slash.
- Press Copy, or open the preview and use Share on X to start a post with the text.
- Paste it into your post and type the plain words around it.
- Look at the result in the post box before you send it.
The strikethrough page shows each line style with your own text, and the slash page has the diagonal versions, such as t̸y̸p̸o̸.
Mind the length
Every struck character carries an extra mark, so m̶e̶e̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ uses about twice as many characters as meeting. In a short post that hardly matters, but a long crossed-out sentence can eat a big share of your space. Strike the one or two words that make the joke and leave the rest plain.
Good uses
- Jokes and confessions: the struck word sets up the punchline.
- Corrections in a reply: if you got a detail wrong, repeat it with a line through the old value and the right value in plain text, like 3̶ p̶m̶ 4 pm.
- Old prices: show a discount next to the new price, which stays plain so everyone can read it.
- Your bio: the same joke works in a profile line, such as professional n̶a̶p̶p̶e̶r̶ designer. Keep it to one struck word so the bio stays readable.
What strikethrough is bad at
- Readability: the line runs through the middle of every letter, so long passages are hard on the eyes.
- Screen readers: some read the marks aloud, some drop the word. Don’t strike anything people must understand correctly.
- Search and hashtags: a struck word no longer matches its plain spelling, and a struck hashtag may stop working.
- Rendering: on some devices and fonts, the line sits a little high or low, or breaks between letters.
Think of the struck word as the setup and the plain word as the payoff. If the joke still works with the struck part removed, you probably don’t need it.
answer every email today
answer every email today
answer every email today