Inheriting CSS Properties: A Specificity Enigma

When applying CSS rules to web elements, the concept of specificity plays a crucial role in determining which rule takes precedence. However, the treatment of inherited properties in this context often raises questions.

Inherited styles are properties passed down from a parent element to its descendants. It's reasonable to wonder how the specificity of inherited properties compares to that of directly-targeted rules.

Specificity and Inheritance

Contrary to popular belief, specificity does not directly govern the priority of inherited properties. Instead, the specificity of any CSS declaration targeting the element directly supersedes any inherited property.

Example: Overriding Inherited Styles

Consider the following HTML and CSS code:

This should be black

    
This should be red

.all_red_text { color: red; }

In this case, the h2 elements within the .all_red_text div inherit the default browser behavior of being black. The color: red; property in .all_red_text overrides this inherited style, and the text appears red.

However, if we add a rule directly targeting the h2 element, as seen below:

h2 { color: black; }
.all_red_text { color: red; }

In this revised example, the color: black; rule explicitly for h2 elements takes precedence over the inherited property, resulting in all h2 text being black.

Conclusion

Inherited CSS properties are not inherently more or less specific than directly-targeted rules. The specificity of a directly-targeted rule is always given higher priority, regardless of whether the inherited property comes from a parent element or the user agent. Understanding this behavior is essential for avoiding unexpected results when working with inherited styles in CSS.