What Does Strikethrough Text Mean? A Complete Guide
A line through a word can mean several different things depending on where you see it, and mixing them up is an easy way to send the wrong signal. Strikethrough almost always means "this was here, but it no longer applies" — the specific reason changes with context. Here's what strikethrough text actually communicates across writing, editing, shopping, and everyday chat, with examples for each.
The Core Meaning: Visible Deletion
Strikethrough is a way of deleting something without actually removing it. A single line drawn through a word, sentence, or price keeps the original readable while clearly marking it as no longer current. That's the one idea every use of strikethrough shares: unlike hitting delete or backspace, strikethrough is a deliberate choice to let the reader see both what was there and that it's been superseded. It's a visible edit, not a silent one.
In Editing and Proofreading
In its oldest and most literal use, strikethrough marks a word or passage for removal in a draft, the same way an editor might cross out a line with a red pen on paper. Word processors like Microsoft Word and Google Docs use it this way in Track Changes and Suggesting mode: text you delete doesn't vanish, it appears struck through so a collaborator can see exactly what was removed and, if needed, put it back. This is strikethrough at its most functional — a record of an edit, not a stylistic choice.
Showing a Price Change
Retail is probably where most people encounter strikethrough daily: an original price crossed out next to a lower one, like a shirt marked $50 $30. Here the meaning shifts slightly — it's not marking an error, it's showing a comparison. The strikethrough proves a discount is real by keeping the "before" price visible instead of just stating a new one, which is why crossing out the old price reads as more trustworthy than simply printing the sale price alone.
Self-Correction in Chat and Casual Writing
On social media and in messaging apps, strikethrough often signals a joke correction: someone writes a word, crosses it out, and replaces it with what they "really" meant — like typing "I had a great productive day" and crossing out "productive." This works because it stages the correction in public: the reader sees the first instinct and the revision side by side, which reads as more honest (or funnier) than only showing the final version. It's become a common way to add a sarcastic or self-deprecating aside without writing a whole extra sentence.
Marking Something as Done
In to-do lists and project trackers, strikethrough marks a task as finished while leaving it visible in the list — useful for keeping a record of what's been completed instead of deleting items and losing that history. Some apps do this automatically (checking a box in a task manager often applies strikethrough as a completion indicator), which is a slightly different meaning again: not "this is wrong" or "this is a joke," but simply "this is done."
How to Read the Context Clues
Since the same visual mark carries several meanings, context does the real work of telling readers which one applies. A crossed-out number next to a lower number almost always means a price change. A crossed-out word followed immediately by a replacement word usually signals a joke or correction. A crossed-out line in a shared document with a colored highlight is probably a tracked deletion, not a stylistic choice. When you're using strikethrough yourself, it helps to make sure the surrounding text gives the same clues — pairing it with a new price, a replacement word, or an obvious list format — so the meaning is clear without extra explanation.
Strikethrough in HTML: <s> vs <del>
Web pages actually have two different HTML tags for a struck-through line, and they mean different things to browsers and search engines even though they look identical. The <del> tag means "this content has been removed," the same tracked-deletion meaning as Word's or Docs' revision history — it's meant to be paired with an <ins> tag showing what replaced it. The <s> tag means something no longer accurate or relevant, like an outdated price or a fact that's no longer true, without implying a formal edit took place. Screen readers can announce either one differently depending on the reader's settings, which is part of why relying on strikethrough alone to convey meaning is risky for anything important — the visual line carries meaning that assistive technology doesn't always pick up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does strikethrough mean the same thing as deleting text?+
Not quite. Deleting removes text entirely; strikethrough marks it as removed while keeping it visible, which is the whole point — it's a record of a change, not the same as the change being invisible.
Is strikethrough text considered rude or sarcastic?+
It can read as sarcastic when it's used for a self-correction joke (writing something, crossing it out, and replacing it), but in documents, price tags, and to-do lists it's a completely neutral, functional mark with no sarcastic connotation at all.
Why do stores cross out prices instead of just showing the new price?+
Showing both prices proves the discount is real. A crossed-out original price gives the customer something to compare against, which reads as more trustworthy than a sale price shown on its own with no reference point.
How do I add strikethrough to my own text online?+
Use the Strikethrough Text Generator — type your text, and it converts it into strikethrough using real Unicode characters you can paste into Instagram, chat apps, or anywhere else that accepts plain text.
Is strikethrough in Markdown the same as strikethrough in a document?+
It means the same thing visually, but works differently under the hood. Markdown (used by Discord, Slack, and GitHub, among others) renders ~~text~~ as a strikethrough line when the platform displays it, while a document's strikethrough is formatting stored directly on the text itself, with no special characters involved.
Is it rude to strikethrough someone else's words?+
In a shared document without tracked changes turned on, yes — it can look like you unilaterally edited their writing. In Suggesting mode, it's the expected, non-confrontational way to propose a deletion, since the original author can simply reject the suggestion.
Why does strikethrough text sometimes look broken on a phone?+
If the strikethrough was created with Unicode combining characters rather than real formatting, some fonts and older devices don't fully support the overlay, which can make the line look thin, doubled, or slightly offset. Real document or HTML formatting doesn't have this problem, since the line is drawn by the app itself rather than layered character by character.
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