Web/HTML/Element/sup

The HTML Superscript element () specifies inline text which is to be displayed as superscript for solely typographical reasons. Superscripts are usually rendered with a raised baseline using smaller text.

The source for this interactive example is stored in a GitHub repository. If you'd like to contribute to the interactive examples project, please clone https://github.com/mdn/interactive-examples and send us a pull request.

Content categories	Flow content, phrasing content, palpable content.
Permitted content	Phrasing content.
Tag omission	None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory.
Permitted parents	Any element that accepts phrasing content.
Implicit ARIA role	No corresponding role
Permitted ARIA roles	Any
DOM interface	`HTMLElement`

Attributes

This element only includes the global attributes.

Usage notes

The  element should only be used for typographical reasons—that is, to change the position of the text to comply with typographical conventions or standards, rather than solely for presentation or appearance purposes.

For example, to style the wordmark of a business or product which uses a raised baseline should be done using CSS (most likely vertical-align) rather than . This would be done using, for example, vertical-align: super or, to shift the baseline up 50%, vertical-align: 50%.

Appropriate use cases for  include (but aren't necessarily limited to):

Displaying exponents, such as "x³." It may be worth considering the use of MathML for these, especially in more complex cases. See Exponents under Examples below.
Displaying superior lettering, which is used in some languages when rendering certain abbreviations. For example, in French, the word "mademoiselle" can be abbreviated "M^lle"); this is an acceptable use case. See Superior lettering for examples.
Representing ordinal numbers, such as "4^th" instead of "fourth." See Ordinal numbers for examples.

Examples

Exponents

Exponents, or powers of a number, are among the most common uses of superscripted text. For example:

<p>One of the most common equations in all of physics is
<var>E</var>=<var>m</var><var>c</var><sup>2</sup>.<p>

The resulting output looks like this:

Superior lettering

Superior lettering is not technically the same thing as superscript. However, it is common to use  to present superior lettering in HTML. Among the most common uses of superior lettering is the presentation of certain abbreviations in French:

<p>Robert a présenté son rapport à M<sup>lle</sup> Bernard.</p>

The resulting output:

Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers, such as "fourth" in English or "quinto" in Spanish may be abbreviated using numerals and language-specific text rendered in superscript:

<p>The ordinal number "fifth" can be abbreviated in various
languages as follows:</p>
<ul>
  <li>English: 5<sup>th</sup></li>
  <li>French: 5<sup>ème</sup></li>
</ul>

The output:

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living StandardThe definition of '<sub> and <sup>' in that specification.	Living Standard
HTML5The definition of '<sub> and <sup>;' in that specification.	Recommendation

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`sup`	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1	IE Full support Yes	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support: Full support