Is there a CSS parent selector?

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There is currently no way to select the parent of an element in CSS, at least not a way that works across all browsers.

If there was a way to do it, it would be in either of the current CSS selectors specs:

  • Selectors Level 3 Spec
  • CSS 2.1 Selectors Spec

That said, the Selectors Level 4 Working Draft includes a :has() pseudo-class that will provide this capability. It will be similar to the jQuery implementation.

li:has(> a.active) { /* styles to apply to the li tag */ }

However, as of 2022, it is only supported by Safari.

In the meantime, you’ll have to resort to JavaScript if you need to select a parent element.

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