Raised hand emoji ✋
✋ is the raised hand: an open palm facing the viewer, fingers together. It means stop, wait, hold on — “✋ let me finish” — and equally a high five, “me!” when…
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What the raised hand ✋ emoji means
✋ is the raised hand: an open palm facing the viewer, fingers together. It means stop, wait, hold on — “✋ let me finish” — and equally a high five, “me!” when volunteering, five as a number, or “talk to the hand”. It is one of the original 2010 emoji and takes all five skin tones. 🤚 raised back of hand shows the back, 🖐️ hand with fingers splayed spreads the fingers, and 🖖 is the Vulcan salute. For a person raising their hand use 🙋 person raising hand; for the road sign, 🛑 stop sign.
Unicode name: raised hand · U+270B · Emoji 0.6 (original set) · group: People & Body.
How people use it
- Stop / wait: interrupting, pausing a conversation
- High five: celebrating, with 🙌
- Me!: volunteering, “who wants pizza? ✋”
- Five: counting, “high five” jokes
Compare the options
| Emoji | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| raised handU+270B | Stop, high five, me | |
| raised back of handU+1F91A | Back of the hand | |
| hand with fingers splayedU+1F590 U+FE0F | Five fingers spread | |
| vulcan saluteU+1F596 | Live long and prosper | |
| person raising handU+1F64B | Someone volunteering |
The hand up emoji in work and learning
In virtual meetings, online classes and shared docs, the hand up emoji acts like a digital raised hand. Because it shows a hand facing forward with fingers together, it reads clearly at small sizes. Use it to signal you have something to say, to volunteer for a task, or to acknowledge a message without typing a full reply. Unlike a simple thumbs up, ✋ carries a sense of wanting to participate rather than just agreeing. It also works well in comment threads to show support or to say ‘I’m here’ when someone asks who is available.
Questions people ask
What does ✋ mean?
Stop or wait, a high five, or “me!” — an open palm can do all three.
What does ✋ mean from a girl?
Often “hold on” or “stop right there”, playfully, or a high five for good news.
Is ✋ the high five emoji?
There is no dedicated one; ✋ raised hand and 🙌 raising hands are both used, and 🙏 is often mistaken for one.
About this guide
Written and maintained by the Emoji Directory editorial team, without ads or sponsorship. Meanings describe how the emoji is commonly used in public posts and messages, not an official definition. Names, code points, versions, keywords and translations come from the Unicode Emoji 18.0 and CLDR data; shortcodes from the gemoji project. Last reviewed . Spotted a mistake or a new usage? Tell us, or read how the directory is made.
