I see a selector like this, .class1 .class2 .class3 { } What does this

Question

Asked: May 18, 20262026-05-18T10:10:00+00:00 2026-05-18T10:10:00+00:00

I see a selector like this,

.class1 .class2 .class3 {
}

What does this mean?

I’ve used multiple class selectors without spaces. Space means descendant but it doesn’t make sense for classes.

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Editorial Team · Answer 1 · 2026-05-18T10:10:01+00:00

Let’s say there’s a page with the following markup,

<div class="class1">
  <div class="class2">
    <div class="class3">
      Some page element(s).
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

The CSS you provided would style all elements under class3, which are under class2, which are under class1.

i.e. let’s say this was the styling,

.class1 .class2 .class3{
  color:red;
}

It would render the text as red, which is the equivalent of the following,

div.class1 div.class2 div.class3 {
  color:red;
}

Finally, the following would do nothing,

.class1.class2.class3{
  color:red;
}

Edit: If the markup instead was the following,

<div class="class1 class2 class3">
      Some page element(s).
</div>

It would work and render the text in red.

Note: < IE7 might have issues with the above…

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