diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 5f4a9cbb543cb..33ab22f5ef07e 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ New library features
   is now a no-op ([#47979]). It previously exposed unsafe behavior ([#47977]).
 * `binomial(x, k)` now supports non-integer `x` ([#48124]).
 * A `CartesianIndex` is now treated as a "scalar" for broadcasting ([#47044]).
+* `printstyled` now supports italic output ([#45164]).
 
 Standard library changes
 ------------------------
diff --git a/base/util.jl b/base/util.jl
index 939ed9ae72bbb..f150ec6cd41d0 100644
--- a/base/util.jl
+++ b/base/util.jl
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ const text_colors = Dict{Union{Symbol,Int},String}(
     :normal        => "\033[0m",
     :default       => "\033[39m",
     :bold          => "\033[1m",
+    :italic        => "\033[3m",
     :underline     => "\033[4m",
     :blink         => "\033[5m",
     :reverse       => "\033[7m",
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ end
 
 const disable_text_style = Dict{Symbol,String}(
     :bold      => "\033[22m",
+    :italic    => "\033[23m",
     :underline => "\033[24m",
     :blink     => "\033[25m",
     :reverse   => "\033[27m",
@@ -47,7 +49,7 @@ const disable_text_style = Dict{Symbol,String}(
 # Create a docstring with an automatically generated list
 # of colors.
 let color_syms = collect(Iterators.filter(x -> !isa(x, Integer), keys(text_colors))),
-    formatting_syms = [:normal, :bold, :default]
+    formatting_syms = [:normal, :bold, :italic, :default]
     global const available_text_colors = cat(
         sort!(intersect(color_syms, formatting_syms), rev=true),
         sort!(setdiff(  color_syms, formatting_syms));
@@ -69,7 +71,7 @@ Printing with the color `:nothing` will print the string without modifications.
 text_colors
 
 function with_output_color(@nospecialize(f::Function), color::Union{Int, Symbol}, io::IO, args...;
-        bold::Bool = false, underline::Bool = false, blink::Bool = false,
+        bold::Bool = false, italic::Bool = false, underline::Bool = false, blink::Bool = false,
         reverse::Bool = false, hidden::Bool = false)
     buf = IOBuffer()
     iscolor = get(io, :color, false)::Bool
@@ -80,12 +82,14 @@ function with_output_color(@nospecialize(f::Function), color::Union{Int, Symbol}
             print(io, str)
         else
             bold && color === :bold && (color = :nothing)
+            italic && color === :italic && (color = :nothing)
             underline && color === :underline && (color = :nothing)
             blink && color === :blink && (color = :nothing)
             reverse && color === :reverse && (color = :nothing)
             hidden && color === :hidden && (color = :nothing)
             enable_ansi  = get(text_colors, color, text_colors[:default]) *
                                (bold ? text_colors[:bold] : "") *
+                               (italic ? text_colors[:italic] : "") *
                                (underline ? text_colors[:underline] : "") *
                                (blink ? text_colors[:blink] : "") *
                                (reverse ? text_colors[:reverse] : "") *
@@ -96,6 +100,7 @@ function with_output_color(@nospecialize(f::Function), color::Union{Int, Symbol}
                            (blink ? disable_text_style[:blink] : "") *
                            (underline ? disable_text_style[:underline] : "") *
                            (bold ? disable_text_style[:bold] : "") *
+                           (italic ? disable_text_style[:italic] : "") *
                                get(disable_text_style, color, text_colors[:default])
             first = true
             for line in eachsplit(str, '\n')
@@ -110,27 +115,33 @@ function with_output_color(@nospecialize(f::Function), color::Union{Int, Symbol}
 end
 
 """
-    printstyled([io], xs...; bold::Bool=false, underline::Bool=false, blink::Bool=false, reverse::Bool=false, hidden::Bool=false, color::Union{Symbol,Int}=:normal)
+    printstyled([io], xs...; bold::Bool=false, italic::Bool=false, underline::Bool=false, blink::Bool=false, reverse::Bool=false, hidden::Bool=false, color::Union{Symbol,Int}=:normal)
 
 Print `xs` in a color specified as a symbol or integer, optionally in bold.
 
 Keyword `color` may take any of the values $(Base.available_text_colors_docstring)
 or an integer between 0 and 255 inclusive. Note that not all terminals support 256 colors.
 
-Keywords `bold=true`, `underline=true`, `blink=true` are self-explanatory.
+Keywords `bold=true`, `italic=true`, `underline=true`, `blink=true` are self-explanatory.
 Keyword `reverse=true` prints with foreground and background colors exchanged,
 and `hidden=true` should be invisible in the terminal but can still be copied.
 These properties can be used in any combination.
 
 See also [`print`](@ref), [`println`](@ref), [`show`](@ref).
 
+!!! note
+    Not all terminals support italic output. Some terminals interpret italic as reverse or
+    blink.
+
 !!! compat "Julia 1.7"
     Keywords except `color` and `bold` were added in Julia 1.7.
+!!! compat "Julia 1.9"
+    Support for italic output was added in Julia 1.9.
 """
-@constprop :none printstyled(io::IO, msg...; bold::Bool=false, underline::Bool=false, blink::Bool=false, reverse::Bool=false, hidden::Bool=false, color::Union{Int,Symbol}=:normal) =
-    with_output_color(print, color, io, msg...; bold=bold, underline=underline, blink=blink, reverse=reverse, hidden=hidden)
-@constprop :none printstyled(msg...; bold::Bool=false, underline::Bool=false, blink::Bool=false, reverse::Bool=false, hidden::Bool=false, color::Union{Int,Symbol}=:normal) =
-    printstyled(stdout, msg...; bold=bold, underline=underline, blink=blink, reverse=reverse, hidden=hidden, color=color)
+@constprop :none printstyled(io::IO, msg...; bold::Bool=false, italic::Bool=false, underline::Bool=false, blink::Bool=false, reverse::Bool=false, hidden::Bool=false, color::Union{Int,Symbol}=:normal) =
+    with_output_color(print, color, io, msg...; bold=bold, italic=italic, underline=underline, blink=blink, reverse=reverse, hidden=hidden)
+@constprop :none printstyled(msg...; bold::Bool=false, italic::Bool=false, underline::Bool=false, blink::Bool=false, reverse::Bool=false, hidden::Bool=false, color::Union{Int,Symbol}=:normal) =
+    printstyled(stdout, msg...; bold=bold, italic=italic, underline=underline, blink=blink, reverse=reverse, hidden=hidden, color=color)
 
 """
     Base.julia_cmd(juliapath=joinpath(Sys.BINDIR, julia_exename()); cpu_target)
diff --git a/test/misc.jl b/test/misc.jl
index 7c9fa3c1fbc41..03a17c84c3c66 100644
--- a/test/misc.jl
+++ b/test/misc.jl
@@ -859,6 +859,10 @@ let buf = IOBuffer()
     printstyled(buf_color, "foo"; bold=true, color=:red)
     @test String(take!(buf)) == "\e[31m\e[1mfoo\e[22m\e[39m"
 
+    # Check that italic is turned off
+    printstyled(buf_color, "foo"; italic=true, color=:red)
+    @test String(take!(buf)) == "\e[31m\e[3mfoo\e[23m\e[39m"
+
     # Check that underline is turned off
     printstyled(buf_color, "foo"; color = :red, underline = true)
     @test String(take!(buf)) == "\e[31m\e[4mfoo\e[24m\e[39m"
@@ -876,8 +880,8 @@ let buf = IOBuffer()
     @test String(take!(buf)) == "\e[31m\e[8mfoo\e[28m\e[39m"
 
     # Check that all options can be turned on simultaneously
-    printstyled(buf_color, "foo"; color = :red, bold = true, underline = true, blink = true, reverse = true, hidden = true)
-    @test String(take!(buf)) == "\e[31m\e[1m\e[4m\e[5m\e[7m\e[8mfoo\e[28m\e[27m\e[25m\e[24m\e[22m\e[39m"
+    printstyled(buf_color, "foo"; color = :red, bold = true, italic = true, underline = true, blink = true, reverse = true, hidden = true)
+    @test String(take!(buf)) == "\e[31m\e[1m\e[3m\e[4m\e[5m\e[7m\e[8mfoo\e[28m\e[27m\e[25m\e[24m\e[22m\e[23m\e[39m"
 end
 
 abstract type DA_19281{T, N} <: AbstractArray{T, N} end