Cap a string at `max` characters without splitting a word, appending an ellipsis when truncated. Falls back gracefully if the last word is longer than `max`.
TypeScript
export function truncateWords(text: string, max: number, ellipsis = '…'): string {
const t = text.trim();
if (t.length <= max) return t;
const budget = max - ellipsis.length;
if (budget <= 0) return ellipsis.slice(0, max);
let cut = t.slice(0, budget);
const lastSpace = cut.lastIndexOf(' ');
if (lastSpace > budget * 0.5) cut = cut.slice(0, lastSpace);
return cut.replace(/[\s,.;:]+$/, '') + ellipsis;
}
truncateWords('The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog', 20);
// 'The quick brown fox…'Save your own code snippets
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