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Tailwind CSS Academy · Lesson

Font Size and Font Weight

Use text-sm through text-9xl and font-thin through font-black to control the visual prominence of your text.

Font Size and Font Weight is a free Tailwind CSS Academy lesson on CoddyKit — lesson 1 of 4. You can read the complete lesson below for free — then practise it hands-on in the browser with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. It is part of the Tailwind CSS Academy learning path, one of 4 lessons in the course, and your progress syncs across the web and the CoddyKit app.

Tailwind's Font Size Scale

Set text size with the text-* scale, from text-xs up to text-9xl. Pick from these steps instead of typing pixels, and your typography stays consistent.

<p class="text-xs">Extra Small (12px)</p>
<p class="text-sm">Small (14px)</p>
<p class="text-base">Base (16px)</p>
<p class="text-lg">Large (18px)</p>
<p class="text-xl">Extra Large (20px)</p>
<p class="text-2xl">2XL (24px)</p>
<p class="text-4xl">4XL (36px)</p>
<p class="text-6xl">6XL (60px)</p>

Display and Hero Text Sizes

For big display text on hero sections, reach for text-7xl, text-8xl, or text-9xl. Pair them with font-extrabold and tracking-tight for headlines that grab attention.

<h1 class="text-7xl font-black tracking-tight text-gray-900">
  Make it big.
</h1>

Font Weight Utilities

Control thickness with font weight: font-normal for body, font-semibold for labels, font-bold for headings, and font-extrabold or font-black for big emphasis.

<p class="font-thin">Thin (100)</p>
<p class="font-light">Light (300)</p>
<p class="font-normal">Normal (400)</p>
<p class="font-medium">Medium (500)</p>
<p class="font-semibold">Semibold (600)</p>
<p class="font-bold">Bold (700)</p>
<p class="font-extrabold">Extrabold (800)</p>
<p class="font-black">Black (900)</p>

Combining Size and Weight

Size and weight are independent, so they team up: text-sm font-medium for a nav label, text-4xl font-bold for a heading. Together they build hierarchy.

<!-- Article typographic hierarchy -->
<h1 class="text-4xl font-bold text-gray-900 mb-2">Main Headline</h1>
<h2 class="text-2xl font-semibold text-gray-700 mb-4">Section Title</h2>
<p class="text-base font-normal text-gray-600 mb-2">Body paragraph text...</p>
<span class="text-xs font-medium text-gray-400">Caption or metadata</span>

Responsive Font Sizes

Type can scale with the screen. Add a breakpoint prefix like md: to any size — text-3xl md:text-5xl is small on phones and large on desktops.

<h1 class="text-2xl md:text-4xl lg:text-6xl font-extrabold text-gray-900">
  Scales with the screen
</h1>

Font Style: Italic

Add italic to slant text and not-italic to reset it. It is great for quotes and citations — italic font-light text-gray-500 gives that classic testimonial feel.

<blockquote class="italic font-light text-gray-500 text-lg border-l-4 border-indigo-400 pl-4">
  'Tailwind makes styling enjoyable again.'
</blockquote>
<cite class="text-sm font-medium text-gray-700">— A happy developer</cite>

Font Variant Numeric

For numbers, tabular-nums makes every digit the same width, so prices and stats line up neatly in tables and columns. A small touch that looks very tidy.

<!-- Tabular numbers align in columns -->
<table>
  <tr>
    <td class="tabular-nums text-right">1,234.56</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td class="tabular-nums text-right">98,765.00</td>
  </tr>
</table>

Practical: Navigation Typography

Nav links love a small, medium look: text-sm font-medium. Mark the active link by bumping it to font-semibold text-indigo-600 so it stands apart.

<nav class="flex gap-6">
  <a href="#" class="text-sm font-medium text-gray-600 hover:text-gray-900">Home</a>
  <a href="#" class="text-sm font-semibold text-indigo-600">Products</a>
  <a href="#" class="text-sm font-medium text-gray-600 hover:text-gray-900">About</a>
</nav>

Practical: Article Body Text

Comfortable body text is text-base or text-lg with relaxed spacing and text-gray-700, not harsh black. Add max-w-prose to keep lines at an easy reading width.

<article class="max-w-prose mx-auto">
  <p class="text-lg font-normal text-gray-700 leading-relaxed">
    This is body text set at a comfortable reading size.
    The max-w-prose constraint keeps lines short enough
    to read without losing your place.
  </p>
</article>

Practical: Data Display Typography

For dashboards, make numbers pop: text-3xl font-bold text-gray-900 for a value, with a smaller text-sm uppercase tracking-wider label above it.

<div class="text-center">
  <p class="text-sm font-medium text-gray-500 uppercase tracking-wider">
    Total Users
  </p>
  <p class="text-3xl font-bold text-gray-900 tabular-nums">
    24,781
  </p>
</div>

Common Font Size Reference

A quick mental map: text-xs for captions, text-base for body, text-2xl to text-4xl for headings, text-5xl and up for hero text. Match each with the right weight.

Quick Check

Quick check! See how size and weight stuck. 🔤

Lesson Recap

Nice! text-* controls size, font-thin through font-black sets weight, and mixing size, weight, and color builds hierarchy. Next up: text color and opacity.

Frequently asked questions

Is the “Font Size and Font Weight” lesson free?

Yes — the full text of “Font Size and Font Weight” is free to read here on the web, and the Tailwind CSS Academy course includes 4 lessons in total. To practise it interactively (a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor) and unlock the rest of the Tailwind CSS Academy course, upgrade to CoddyKit PRO.

What will I learn in “Font Size and Font Weight”?

Use text-sm through text-9xl and font-thin through font-black to control the visual prominence of your text. You practise Tailwind CSS Academy with hands-on code you run directly in the browser, and a 24/7 AI tutor answers your questions as you work through the lesson.

Do I need any experience to start Tailwind CSS Academy?

No prior experience is required. Tailwind CSS Academy on CoddyKit is structured for beginners through advanced learners; this is — lesson 1 of 4, so you can start here or from the beginning and move at your own pace.

How long does the “Font Size and Font Weight” lesson take?

Most CoddyKit lessons take about 5–10 minutes. Each one is bite-sized and interactive, so you make steady progress and pick up exactly where you left off across the web and the app.

Can I write and run code in this Tailwind CSS Academy lesson?

Yes. Every Tailwind CSS Academy lesson includes a built-in code editor, so you write and run real code right in your browser and get instant AI feedback — no local setup required.

All lessons in this course

  1. Font Size and Font Weight
  2. Text Color and Opacity
  3. Line Height and Letter Spacing
  4. Text Alignment and Decoration
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