Nonbreaking Hyphen vs. Regular Hyphen
A nonbreaking hyphen and a regular hyphen are different characters. Unicode line-breaking rules treat U+2011 NON-BREAKING HYPHEN as a hyphen-like character that prevents a line break at that point, so it is useful only when the no-break behavior is intentionally required.
Use a regular hyphen for normal hyphenation; use U+2011 NON-BREAKING HYPHEN only when the hyphenated expression must stay unbroken across a line.
Key details
Important caveats
Accessibility Boundary
Do not insert nonbreaking characters everywhere by default; unnecessary no-break behavior can produce awkward wrapping in narrow layouts.
Further guidance
Character Difference
Unicode identifies NON-BREAKING HYPHEN as U+2011, distinct from ordinary hyphen-minus.
Practical Application
Use a regular hyphen for ordinary hyphenation. Insert U+2011 NON-BREAKING HYPHEN only when a line break at that hyphen would be undesirable and the publishing system supports the character reliably.
Reader Check
Is preventing a line break at this exact hyphen a real layout requirement, rather than an attempt to fix spacing or wrapping manually?
Use
Choose a nonbreaking hyphen when a hyphenated expression should not split at the hyphen during line wrapping.
Worked Example
A normal compound can use “well-known” with a regular hyphen. A short identifier that must remain visually unbroken across lines may use a nonbreaking hyphen when the output system preserves it correctly.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- General Punctuation — Unicode Names List (opens in a new tab)Unicode Consortium · Unicode identities for directional quotation marks and related punctuation characters
- Unicode Standard Annex #14: Unicode Line Breaking Algorithm (opens in a new tab)Unicode Consortium · Unicode line-breaking behavior and non-breaking hyphen semantics