| Style | Result | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| AP Style | Holy | Lowercase articles, short conjunctions, and short prepositions under 5 letters |
| APA Style | Holy | Lowercase all short words under 4 letters except first/last |
| MLA Style | Holy | Same as AP but capitalize all hyphenated parts |
| Chicago | Holy | Lowercase all prepositions regardless of length |
| Sentence Case | Holy | Capitalize first word only |
| ALL CAPS | HOLY | Every letter capitalized |
| all lowercase | holy | No words capitalized |
In AP Style, "holy" is capitalized in titles. However, it is always capitalized if it is the first or last word of the title.
APA Style capitalizes "holy" because it is a major word. Like all style guides, APA always capitalizes the first and last words of a title regardless of length.
In most headline styles, "holy" is capitalized. AP Style lowercases articles, short conjunctions, and short prepositions under 5 letters. Chicago Style lowercases all prepositions.
MLA Style follows the same rules as AP Style for "holy": capitalized. MLA also capitalizes all parts of hyphenated words.
In Chicago Style, "holy" is capitalized because it is not a preposition or article. Chicago lowercases ALL prepositions regardless of length.
The first and last words of a title are always capitalized in every major style guide (AP, APA, MLA, Chicago). Additionally, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are always capitalized. Articles, conjunctions, and prepositions are typically lowercase unless they are the first or last word.
AP Style lowercases articles, short conjunctions, and short prepositions under 5 letters. APA Style is more aggressive: it lowercases ALL short words under 4 letters. Both always capitalize the first and last word.
Yes. In every major style guide — AP, APA, MLA, and Chicago — the first and last words of a title are always capitalized, regardless of what part of speech they are.
The word holy appears in titles, headlines, and headings across many contexts. Whether you should capitalize it depends entirely on which style guide you are following. The four major standards — AP (Associated Press), APA (American Psychological Association), MLA (Modern Language Association), and Chicago Manual of Style — each have different rules.
In AP Style, the most widely used standard for journalism and web content, articles (a, an, the), short conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor), and short prepositions under five letters (on, at, to, from, by, in, with, of, up) are lowercase in the middle of a title. The first and last words are always capitalized regardless of what part of speech they are.
APA Style is more aggressive: it lowercases all short words under four letters. Chicago Style lowercases all prepositions regardless of length. MLA Style follows AP rules but also capitalizes all parts of hyphenated words. Sentence case only capitalizes the first word, while ALL CAPS and all lowercase are used for specific design or stylistic purposes.
When writing headlines, blog titles, or academic papers, consistency matters most. Pick one style guide and apply it uniformly. If you are writing for a news website or blog, AP Style is usually the safest choice. For academic papers, follow your instructor or publisher required style.