The word italic refers to a style of writing or printing where letters slant to the right, like this. When you see words in italics in a book, they lean gently forward, as if they're leaning into what they're saying.

Writers and editors use italics for several purposes. They italicize the titles of books, movies, and newspapers (like Charlotte's Web or The New York Times). They also use italics to add emphasis to important words, showing which parts of a sentence deserve special attention. If you write “I told you to clean your room yesterday,” the italics show frustration about the timing. Italics can also indicate words from other languages that haven't become regular English words yet, or sounds like whoosh or crash.

Printers loved italics because the slanted letters could fit more words on a page than regular upright letters.

In handwriting, people sometimes underline words to show they would be italicized in print. When you're typing and want to make something italic, you usually press a button or use a keyboard shortcut to make your letters slant.