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Meaning & use

all caps

noun, adjective·Everydayinformal

Last updated

UK/ˌɔːl ˈkæps/
US/ˌɔːl ˈkæps/

Meanings

  1. noununcountableinformal

    Writing in which every letter is a capital letter rather than a mix of capital and small letters.

    Grammar: Usually used with in: written in all caps; no article is needed.

    Patterns

    • in all caps
    • type in all caps

    The warning on the sign was printed in all caps.

    Please do not write your email in all caps.

    The password must be typed in all caps.

  2. adjectivebefore a nouninformal

    Typed or printed entirely in capital letters, often to show strong feeling or for emphasis.

    Grammar: Often used before a noun: an all caps message, an all caps headline.

    Patterns

    • an all caps message

    She sent an all caps message that made everyone laugh.

    The all caps headline took up the whole top of the page.

    An all caps comment on social media usually looks angry.

  3. nouncountable or uncountabletechnicalcomputing

    A text setting in design software that turns lowercase letters into capital letters without retyping.

    Grammar: Used as a formatting option: turn on all caps.

    Patterns

    • turn on all caps
    • all caps setting

    Select the heading and click all caps in the font menu.

    The designer chose all caps for the logo text.

    In the style guide, all caps is only used for short titles.

Common combinations

type in all caps
Don't type in all caps; it feels like shouting.
write in all caps
Write your name in all caps on the form.
all caps heading
An all caps heading stands out on the page.
switch to all caps
Switch to all caps for the title.
all caps warning
The all caps warning told visitors to stay out.

Synonyms and how they differ

capital letters
Capital letters is the plain neutral term, while all caps tends to appear in informal or online talk.
uppercase
Uppercase is the typographic term and sounds more technical than all caps.
block capitals
Block capitals suggests hand-printed capitals, often on forms, whereas all caps suggests typed text.
shouting
Shouting is the figurative reading of all caps online, so it is about tone, not formatting.

Opposites

lowercasesmall letters

Word family

capital noun
a large letter used at the start of sentences and names
capitalize verb
to write a letter as a capital
caps noun
a short form of capital letters
small caps noun
capital letters shown at the height of small letters

Commonly confused: all caps or small caps? all caps or title case?

all caps vs small caps

Small caps are capital letters drawn at the height of lowercase letters, while all caps are full-size capitals.

all caps vs title case

Title case capitalizes only the main words in a title; all caps capitalizes every letter.

Practice

Your friend writes a whole email in capitals, so it feels like they are yelling. You might say it is written in ___.

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “all caps”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

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