Brackets and delimiters in LaTeX math
Put \left before the opening and \right before the closing delimiter, as in \left( \frac{a}{b} \right); for a fixed size, use \big, \Big, \bigg or \Bigg instead.
Typing delimiters
Round and square brackets are typed directly. Braces need a backslash, because plain { } group things in LaTeX. Bars, floor and ceiling have commands.
| You want | Type |
|---|---|
| ( ) and [ ] | ( ) and [ ] (also \lbrack \rbrack) |
| { } | \{ \} or \lbrace \rbrace |
| |x| absolute value | \lvert x \rvert, or | ... | with plain bars |
| ‖v‖ norm | \lVert v \rVert or |v| |
| ⌊x⌋ floor, ⌈x⌉ ceiling | \lfloor x \rfloor, \lceil x \rceil |
| ⟨u, v⟩ angle brackets | \langle u, v \rangle |
| ⟦x⟧ | \llbracket x \rrbracket |
| ∖ | \backslash |
\vert, \lvert, \rvert, \Vert, \lVert, \rVert, \lfloor, \rfloor, \lceil and \rceil all work, but they are missing from the grid further down.
Absolute value, norm, floor and a set
$\lvert -44 \rvert = 44$, $\lVert \mathbf{v} \rVert = 1$,
$\lfloor 4.4 \rfloor = 4$, $\lceil 4.4 \rceil = 5$ and
$S = \{ x \mid x > 0 \}$.Growing with the content
\left and \right measure what is between them and make the delimiters tall enough. They must come in pairs, but the two sides can differ, and \left. or \right. stands for an invisible delimiter. \middle adds a delimiter of the same height in between.
\left, \right and \middle
\left( \frac{a}{b} \right)^2 \qquad
\left. \frac{df}{dx} \right|_{x=0} \qquad
\left\{ x \;\middle|\; x^2 < 44 \right\} \qquad
\left[ 0, \tfrac12 \right)Fixed sizes
\left and \right sometimes pick a size that is too big, and they cannot break across lines. \big, \Big, \bigg and \Bigg give four fixed sizes. With an l, r or m at the end (\bigl, \bigr, \bigm) they also get the spacing of an opening, closing or middle delimiter.
Four fixed sizes
\Bigg( \bigg( \Big( \big( x \big) \Big) \bigg) \Bigg) \qquad
\bigl\{ a \bigm| b \bigr\}All delimiter commands
Click a copy button to copy the command.
\vert\lvert\rvert
\Vert\lVert\rVert
\lceil
\rceil
\lfloor
\rfloor
\big
\Big
\bigg
\Bigg\bigl\Bigl\biggl\Biggl\bigm\Bigm\biggm\Biggm\bigr\Bigr\biggr\Biggr
\lbrack
\rbrack
\lgroup
\rgroup
\llbracket
\rrbracket
\lang
\rang\langle\rangle
\backslash
\lbrace
\rbrace
\llcorner
\lrcorner
\rmoustache
\ulcorner
\urcorner
\middle
Angle and double brackets
\langle, \rangle, \lang, \rang, \llbracket and \rrbracket work, also after \left and \right. In earlier versions they stopped the whole document; see when the document does not typeset. The characters ⟨ ⟩ and ⟦ ⟧ work too.
Angle and double brackets
\langle u, v\rangle = \sum_i u_i v_i \qquad \left\langle \frac{\psi}{2} \right\rangle \qquad \llbracket 44 \rrbracketRelated pages
- Matrices for
pmatrix,bmatrixand the other bracketed matrices. - mathtools for
\DeclarePairedDelimiter; the delimiter commands themselves are described in the amsmath documentation on CTAN.
Questions and answers
How do I write curly braces in LaTeX math?
Write \{ and \}. Plain braces are invisible: LaTeX uses them to group parts of a formula.
Why are my brackets too small around a fraction?
Plain ( and ) keep their normal size. Write \left( and \right) to make them grow, or \bigl( and \bigr) for a fixed larger size.
How do I write angle brackets for an inner product?
Write \langle u, v \rangle, or \left\langle ... \right\rangle to make them grow. Do not use < and >: those are relation symbols and are spaced wrongly.
Every example on this page is typeset by Scissor LaTeX when the site is built. Last updated 2026-11-06.