Example
Limited time only
𝐿𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦
How it works
Letters are replaced with italic look-alikes from the Unicode “Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols” block, so the style is part of the text itself. Unicode has no italic digits, so numbers stay upright.
Things to know
Screen readers may read these characters oddly or skip them, and search engines don’t treat them as ordinary words. Use them for a word or two of emphasis, not for whole posts, usernames you want people to search for, or anything that needs to be accessible.
Three italic styles
Italic serif looks like classic book italics, italic sans-serif is cleaner and more modern, and bold italic serif adds weight for a heading or name. Use italics where you would in print: a book or film title, a word in another language, or a single word you want to stress.
Built-in italics in apps
WhatsApp formats _text_ as italic, and Markdown-based apps such as Discord and Reddit use *text*. Those real italics are better for accessibility and search, so use Unicode italics only where an app offers no formatting at all.