Lorem Ipsum Generator
Placeholder text as paragraphs, sentences, words or lists. Runs in your browser.
About this lorem ipsum generator
This lorem ipsum generator makes placeholder text for designers, developers and anyone filling a layout before the real words exist. Pick paragraphs, sentences, words, list items or an exact number of characters, and copy it as plain text, HTML or Markdown.
The text changes every time you press Generate new. Words are drawn at random from a vocabulary of about 200 Latin words, so two mockups side by side don't look like copies of each other. You can still start with the familiar "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet" line when a client expects it.
Need markup? Switch on HTML tags and every paragraph arrives in its own <p>, every list item in an <li>. Nothing is sent anywhere; the text is made in your browser.
Features
Five ways to measure
Paragraphs (up to 100), sentences (500), words (10,000), list items (200) or characters (100,000). Changing the unit sets a sensible starting count.
HTML and Markdown output
HTML mode wraps paragraphs in <p> and lists in <ul> or <ol> with <li>. Markdown mode writes lists with - or 1. so they paste straight into a README.
Exact character counts
Ask for 160 characters and you get at most 160, ending on a whole word. Useful for testing a meta description field, a card title or a database column.
Short, medium or long paragraphs
Short paragraphs have 2 to 4 sentences, medium 4 to 7, long 7 to 11. Sentences run 6 to 16 words with the odd comma, so the text has a natural rhythm.
Fresh text on every click
Generate new or Ctrl+Enter gives a new mix. Randomness comes from your browser's cryptographic generator, not a fixed paragraph repeated over and over.
Counts before you paste
Live tiles show words, characters and paragraphs or items. Download the text as .txt, .html or .md.
How to use the lorem ipsum generator
- 1Pick paragraphs, sentences, words, list items or characters and how many.
- 2Choose plain text, HTML tags or Markdown, and whether to start with Lorem ipsum.
- 3Copy or download it. Press Generate new or Ctrl+Enter for a fresh mix.
When to use it
Website and app mockups
Fill cards, blog layouts and hero sections with text of realistic length, so the design is judged on spacing and type rather than on half-written copy.
Testing templates and CMS themes
Paste 10 long paragraphs into a post to see how the theme handles long articles, or a 30-item list to check bullet styling.
Checking length limits
Generate exactly 280 or 5,000 characters to see whether a form field, a database column or a text box cuts the text off.
Print and slide layouts
Drop body text into a brochure or slide template to set column widths and font sizes before the real copy arrives.
What does lorem ipsum mean?
On purpose, almost nothing. The text is scrambled Latin taken from De finibus bonorum et malorum, a book on ethics that Cicero wrote in 45 BC. The famous opening comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33. In the original, the phrase reads "dolorem ipsum", meaning "pain itself", from a sentence saying nobody loves pain for its own sake. Cut off at the wrong place, "dolorem" became "lorem", which is not a Latin word at all.
Words were dropped, shortened and shuffled, so a Latin reader sees fragments that never add up. That is the point. Readable text pulls the eye into reading. Near-Latin looks like language, with normal word lengths and spacing, but gives the reader nothing to follow.
Where did lorem ipsum come from?
The source was traced by Richard McClintock, a Latin scholar who looked up the odd word "consectetur" and found it in Cicero's text. You will often read that printers have used the passage since the 1500s. That story is repeated everywhere, yet no one has produced a surviving example from that time.
What is well documented is later. Letraset printed lorem ipsum on its dry-transfer lettering sheets in the 1960s, and desktop publishing software such as Aldus PageMaker shipped it as sample text from the mid-1980s. From there it spread into word processors, web templates and design tools.
When should you use placeholder text, and when not?
Use it early, when you are deciding structure: how wide a column is, how many lines a card can hold, where the fold falls. Placeholder text keeps that discussion about layout.
Swap it out as soon as real content exists. Real headlines are longer or shorter than you expect, and real lists are messier. A few habits help:
- Tell clients the text is a placeholder, so nobody asks why their site is in Latin.
- Search the project for "lorem" before launch. Stray filler text on a live page happens more often than you'd think.
- Test with your longest real headline too, not just tidy dummy text.
- For forms and tables, generate realistic names, emails and addresses instead. They break layouts in ways Latin words don't.
Why use Mavros
| Mavros | Typical upload sites | |
|---|---|---|
| Text on each click | New random mix every time | Often the same fixed paragraphs |
| Randomness | Browser's cryptographic generator | Basic pseudo-random or none |
| HTML output | <p>, <ul>, <ol> and <li> | Paragraph tags only, or none |
| Markdown output | Yes | Rare |
| Exact character count | Ends on a whole word, never over the limit | Cuts mid-word or not offered |
| Ads and pop-ups | None | Common |
Tips
- Press Ctrl+Enter (Cmd+Enter on a Mac) from any control to get a new version without reaching for the mouse.
- Turn off "Start with Lorem ipsum" when you fill several blocks, so they don't all open with the same line.
- For HTML lists, tick Numbered list to switch from <ul> to <ol>.
- Writing Markdown docs? Paste the output into the Markdown previewer to see it rendered.
- Trying a layout in code? Drop the HTML into the HTML playground and adjust the CSS around it.
- Need to hit a word target instead? Paste your real draft into the Word Counter to compare it with the placeholder.
Questions
What is lorem ipsum?
Lorem ipsum is placeholder text made from scrambled Latin. Designers use it to fill a layout before the real content is ready, so people look at the design instead of reading the words.
What does lorem ipsum dolor sit amet mean?
Roughly "pain itself, because it is pain", but cut off mid-sentence. It comes from Cicero's De finibus bonorum et malorum (45 BC). "Lorem" is a fragment of "dolorem", so the opening has no real meaning.
How do I generate lorem ipsum with HTML tags?
Choose HTML tags under Format. Paragraphs are wrapped in <p> tags and list items in <li> inside <ul>, or inside <ol> if you tick Numbered list. Then copy the code or download it as an .html file.
How many words are in a paragraph of lorem ipsum?
A medium paragraph here has 4 to 7 sentences, which comes to roughly 40 to 80 words. Short paragraphs are about half that and long ones about double. The word count tile shows the exact total.
Can I get an exact number of characters?
Yes. Choose Characters and enter the limit. The text stops at the last whole word that fits, so it is never longer than your number and never ends mid-word.
Is lorem ipsum copyrighted?
No. The source text by Cicero is more than 2,000 years old and in the public domain, and the scrambled placeholder version is used freely everywhere. You can use the generated text in any project.
Why do designers use Latin instead of real text?
Real sentences get read, and reviewers start editing the copy instead of judging the layout. Latin-looking filler has natural word lengths and spacing but nothing to read, so attention stays on the design.
Is the text random every time?
Yes. Each click picks new words and sentence lengths using your browser's cryptographic random number generator. Only the optional opening line stays the same.