diff -r dc4b49011838 dmenu.1
--- a/dmenu.1	Fri Apr 06 16:38:01 2012 +0100
+++ b/dmenu.1	Thu Apr 19 00:12:04 2012 -0700
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 .RB [ \-i ]
 .RB [ \-l
 .IR lines ]
+.RB [ \-w ]
 .RB [ \-p
 .IR prompt ]
 .RB [ \-fn
@@ -49,6 +50,9 @@
 .BI \-l " lines"
 dmenu lists items vertically, with the given number of lines.
 .TP
+.BI \-w
+trims dmenu width to fit the currently used font (for vertical lists)
+.TP
 .BI \-p " prompt"
 defines the prompt to be displayed to the left of the input field.
 .TP
diff -r dc4b49011838 dmenu.c
--- a/dmenu.c	Fri Apr 06 16:38:01 2012 +0100
+++ b/dmenu.c	Thu Apr 19 00:12:04 2012 -0700
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
 static const char *selbgcolor  = "#005577";
 static const char *selfgcolor  = "#eeeeee";
 static unsigned int lines = 0;
+static Bool trimWidth = False;
 static unsigned long normcol[ColLast];
 static unsigned long selcol[ColLast];
 static Atom clip, utf8;
@@ -83,6 +84,8 @@
 			fstrncmp = strncasecmp;
 			fstrstr = cistrstr;
 		}
+		else if(!strcmp(argv[i], "-w"))   /* change menu width to auto fit column */
+			trimWidth = True;
 		else if(i+1 == argc)
 			usage();
 		/* these options take one argument */
@@ -482,6 +485,7 @@
 			eprintf("cannot strdup %u bytes:", strlen(buf)+1);
 		if(strlen(items[i].text) > max)
 			max = strlen(maxstr = items[i].text);
+
 	}
 	if(items)
 		items[i].text = NULL;
@@ -569,7 +573,7 @@
 
 		x = info[i].x_org;
 		y = info[i].y_org + (topbar ? 0 : info[i].height - mh);
-		mw = info[i].width;
+		mw = trimWidth ? dc->font.width * 32 : info[i].width;
 		XFree(info);
 	}
 	else
@@ -577,7 +581,7 @@
 	{
 		x = 0;
 		y = topbar ? 0 : DisplayHeight(dc->dpy, screen) - mh;
-		mw = DisplayWidth(dc->dpy, screen);
+		mw = trimWidth ? dc->font.width * 32 : DisplayWidth(dc->dpy, screen);
 	}
 	promptw = prompt ? textw(dc, prompt) : 0;
 	inputw = MIN(inputw, mw/3);
@@ -604,7 +608,7 @@
 
 void
 usage(void) {
-	fputs("usage: dmenu [-b] [-f] [-i] [-l lines] [-p prompt] [-fn font]\n"
+	fputs("usage: dmenu [-b] [-f] [-i] [-w] [-l lines] [-p prompt] [-fn font]\n"
 	      "             [-nb color] [-nf color] [-sb color] [-sf color] [-v]\n", stderr);
 	exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 }