What lorem ipsum is
Lorem ipsum is scrambled Latin used as placeholder text in design and publishing. It comes from a passage in Cicero's “De finibus bonorum et malorum” (“On the ends of good and evil”), written in 45 BC. The words were cut and jumbled, so it reads like Latin but means nothing. Even “lorem” is half a word: the end of “dolorem” (pain).
Typesetters used it for decades, and it became everywhere in the 1960s with Letraset transfer sheets and later with desktop publishing software.
Why designers use it
Real-looking text shows how a layout will feel, with natural word lengths, line breaks and paragraph shapes, without anyone reading the words. If you use real copy too early, people start editing the wording instead of looking at the design.
The flip side: lorem ipsum hides problems real text would show. Headlines run longer, names don't fit and translations can be a third longer than English. Swap in real content as soon as you have it.
How much text you need
Rough sizes for common spots:
- Button or label: 1 to 3 words.
- Card title or headline: 4 to 10 words.
- Social caption or product blurb: 1 to 3 sentences.
- Blog post mock-up: 4 to 6 paragraphs.
- A typical paragraph here is 4 to 7 sentences, about 40 to 90 words.
Don't ship it by accident
Lorem ipsum left on a live page looks unfinished and can end up in search results. Before you publish, search your site or files for “lorem” to catch any leftovers.
Frequently asked questions
What does lorem ipsum mean?
Nothing, on purpose. It's scrambled Latin from a text by Cicero. The original line, “Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum…”, means roughly “Nor is there anyone who loves pain itself…”.
How many words are in a paragraph of lorem ipsum?
Here, between about 40 and 90, since each paragraph has 4 to 7 sentences of 6 to 14 words. Use Words mode if you need an exact count.
Can I get lorem ipsum with HTML tags?
Yes. Turn on Wrap paragraphs in <p> tags and each paragraph comes wrapped, ready to paste into HTML.
Is lorem ipsum free to use?
Yes. It's based on a text over 2,000 years old, so there's no copyright on it, and the text made here is yours to use.