Contrast is the difference between the thick and thin parts of a [letterform](/glossary/letterform)’s [stroke](/glossary/stroke), and creates the [angle of stress](/glossary/axis_in_type_design) within a [type](/glossary/type) design. [Monolinear](/glossary/monolinear) typefaces have low stroke contrast, unlike high-contrast faces. A typical trait of a typeface with varying [optical sizes](/glossary/optical_sizes) is that [display](/glossary/display) sizes have higher contrast than [body](/glossary/body) sizes.

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![“Through Thick & Thin”, with each word set in a drastically different typeface. Circles are used to highlight parts of the letterforms where contrast is evident.](images/thumbnail.svg)

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[Serif](/glossary/serif) typefaces tend to have higher contrast strokes than [sans serif](/glossary/sans_serif) designs.

Contrast can be controlled and fine-tuned in [variable fonts](/glossary/variable_fonts) with [parametric axes](/glossary/parametric_axis) that adjust [thick strokes (XOPQ)](/glossary/xopq_axis) and [thin strokes (YOPQ)](/glossary/yopq_axis) independently.