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Sometimes you get strikethrough text that has been crossed out.

How can I describe this attribute of text in one word?

i.e.

The text "the illuminati exists" is ______

Bold, italicised, underlined etc. all fit above; what is the appropriate adjective for striked-through text?

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  • Note that open compound nouns are still classed as 'nouns'. Some authors ( Espresso English for instance) are happy to call open compound adjectives 'adjectives': << Use a hyphen when the compound adjective comes BEFORE the noun it modifies, but not when it comes AFTER the noun. This is a world-famous museum. This museum is world famous. >>
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 20:37
  • The downvote is possibly because the first two forms of your request don't specify that the adjective must be one that can be used in the predicative role.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 20:49
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    You need to change the tense. Not the text is ...., but the text has been stricken [from the document]
    – Jim
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 21:26
  • 2
    I would say "struck out" or "struck through".
    – TrevorD
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 22:50

3 Answers 3

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I don't know of any official terms for such a thing, but I'd recommend the likes of 'Stricken/struck', 'crossed-off' or simply struck through.

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    +1 I have seen "stricken" used before and was never at a loss for what was implied.
    – ThunderGuppy
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 20:10
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    To quote tchrist, 'We are looking for more substantial answers with documented references, not merely [statements that may possibly be no more than] personal opinion. Those are just comments, not answers.'
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 20:47
  • @EdwinAshworth Since it doesn't seem that their is any proper term for it, so I proposed my own possibilities. They can both be used in this sense with people being able to infer what is meant. Therefore, I don't think the likes of references are needed, rather possible words which fit the criteria. This is not opinion in the sense seemingly described by tchrist because of the fact that these words are indeed possible within the context.
    – BobbyMcSwagger
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 21:26
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    It's opinion because others may think your suggestions poor, as sounding unidiomatic, as being ambiguous ('stricken from the document' means 'removed' rather than 'crossed out'), or because the usages seem to have little pedigree.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 21:57
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We can simply say strikethrough text, as strikethrough is often used as a single word.

Please see http://fsymbols.com/generators/strikethrough/

Strikethrough is used as a single word. Please also see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strikethrough

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  • "The text is strikethrough" - not really `:^/
    – minseong
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 20:35
  • But the article seems to use non-standard English, and so is not good to cite as supporting evidence for the usage.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 20:42
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For a more common word, I would like to propose deleted.

In HTML syntax, the del element (short for deleted text) is to be used when an edit is made to a document such that some text is considered outdated, irrelevant or incorrect. From W3C:

The del element represents a removal from the document.

When text is placed inside a del element, browsers will normally present the affected text by applying a strikethrough effect to it.

In your example, it would be phrased: 'the text [...] has been deleted.'

Dictionary entries for delete also support this usage.

Remove or obliterate (written or printed matter), especially by drawing a line through it

to strike out or remove (something written or printed); cancel; erase; expunge.

to remove or draw a line through something, especially a written word or words

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  • I believe that this has the same problem that Edwin Ashworth raised with regard to “stricken” — “deleted” means “removed” rather than “crossed out”. If I can see it and read it, it’s not deleted. Even if it’s unreadable — if it’s “redacted”, like ▒▒▒▒▒▒ — if it’s visible, it’s not deleted. “Marked for deletion” might work, except that’s not a single word.
    – Scott - Слава Україні
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 16:46

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