diff --git a/kitty/config.py b/kitty/config.py
index ce7aab3c6..0e6a8785c 100644
--- a/kitty/config.py
+++ b/kitty/config.py
@@ -248,6 +248,7 @@ url_style.map = dict(((v, i) for i, v in enumerate('none single double curly'.sp
 type_map = {
     'allow_remote_control': to_bool,
     'adjust_line_height': adjust_line_height,
+    'adjust_column_width': adjust_line_height,
     'scrollback_lines': positive_int,
     'scrollback_pager': shlex.split,
     'scrollback_in_new_tab': to_bool,
diff --git a/kitty/fonts.c b/kitty/fonts.c
index b62e14519..31cccea8f 100644
--- a/kitty/fonts.c
+++ b/kitty/fonts.c
@@ -290,6 +290,8 @@ update_cell_metrics() {
     unsigned int before_cell_height = cell_height;
     if (OPT(adjust_line_height_px) != 0) cell_height += OPT(adjust_line_height_px);
     if (OPT(adjust_line_height_frac) != 0.f) cell_height *= OPT(adjust_line_height_frac);
+    if (OPT(adjust_column_width_px != 0)) cell_width += OPT(adjust_column_width_px);
+    if (OPT(adjust_column_width_frac) != 0.f) cell_height *= OPT(adjust_column_width_frac);
     int line_height_adjustment = cell_height - before_cell_height;
     if (cell_height < 4) { PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "line height too small after adjustment"); return NULL; }
     if (cell_height > 1000) { PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "line height too large after adjustment"); return NULL; }
diff --git a/kitty/kitty.conf b/kitty/kitty.conf
index c2e9efd33..8d48b1779 100644
--- a/kitty/kitty.conf
+++ b/kitty/kitty.conf
@@ -24,12 +24,13 @@ font_size        11.0
 font_size_delta 2
 
 
-# Adjust the line height.
+# Adjust the cell dimensions.
 # You can use either numbers, which are interpreted as pixels or percentages
 # (number followed by %), which are interpreted as percentages of the
-# unmodified line height. You can use negative pixels or percentages less than
-# 100% to reduce line height (but this might cause rendering artifacts).
+# unmodified values. You can use negative pixels or percentages less than
+# 100% to reduce sizes (but this might cause rendering artifacts).
 adjust_line_height 0
+adjust_column_width 0
 
 # Change the sizes of the lines used for the box drawing unicode characters
 # These values are in pts. They will be scaled by the monitor DPI to arrive at
diff --git a/kitty/state.c b/kitty/state.c
index 410272e01..2c982cb95 100644
--- a/kitty/state.c
+++ b/kitty/state.c
@@ -364,15 +364,19 @@ PYWRAP1(set_options) {
     GA(keymap); set_special_keys(ret);
     Py_DECREF(ret); if (PyErr_Occurred()) return NULL;
 
-    PyObject *al = PyObject_GetAttrString(opts, "adjust_line_height");
-    if (PyFloat_Check(al)) {
-        OPT(adjust_line_height_frac) = (float)PyFloat_AsDouble(al);
-        OPT(adjust_line_height_px) = 0;
-    } else {
-        OPT(adjust_line_height_frac) = 0;
-        OPT(adjust_line_height_px) = (int)PyLong_AsLong(al);
-    }
-    Py_DECREF(al);
+#define read_adjust(name) { \
+    PyObject *al = PyObject_GetAttrString(opts, #name); \
+    if (PyFloat_Check(al)) { \
+        OPT(name##_frac) = (float)PyFloat_AsDouble(al); \
+        OPT(name##_px) = 0; \
+    } else { \
+        OPT(name##_frac) = 0; \
+        OPT(name##_px) = (int)PyLong_AsLong(al); \
+    } \
+    Py_DECREF(al); \
+}
+    read_adjust(adjust_line_height);
+    read_adjust(adjust_column_width);
 #undef S
     Py_RETURN_NONE;
 }
diff --git a/kitty/state.h b/kitty/state.h
index 119b48602..4adf4b875 100644
--- a/kitty/state.h
+++ b/kitty/state.h
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ typedef struct {
     bool focus_follows_mouse;
     bool macos_option_as_alt, macos_hide_titlebar;
     bool prefer_color_emoji;
-    int adjust_line_height_px;
+    int adjust_line_height_px, adjust_column_width_px;
+    float adjust_line_height_frac, adjust_column_width_frac;
     int x11_bell_volume;
-    float adjust_line_height_frac;
     float background_opacity;
     float inactive_text_alpha;
     Edge tab_bar_edge;