An open palm raised mid-wave, the waving-hand emoji is the emoji equivalent of a hello or goodbye. It opens texts, closes them, and covers everything from a cheerful greeting to a polite exit from a conversation that's run its course.
What 👋 means
A yellow palm with two little vibrating waves on either side, representing the action of waving. This emoji signifies greeting someone, like saying 'Hi', 'What's up', 'Long time no see!', etc.
The 👋 Waving Hand can also mean a slap, in a friendly and casual way (duh, because it's illegal to slap anyone). Besides, it can also denote spanking (the sexual side to 👋 emoji).
This emoji is available in the designated skin tones almost across all platforms.
How and when to use it
- If you're texting a long lost friend after ages, use 👋 emoji as a way of greeting them.
- It can even be used to say 'Goodbye'.
- The 👋 Waving Hand emoji can be used in a funny context of waving at someone for them to notice you. Basically, use this emoji to reach out for some attention.
- As mentioned before, you can also use this emoji in sexual contexts, with people of your own wavelength and personality (because not everyone gets it, nor enjoys it).
- The 👋 emoji can also be used to send across a slap on text too (deffo a friendly whack, of course).
Other Names
- 👋 Hi!
- 👋 Hello
- 👋 What's Up
- 👋 Goodbye
- 👋 See ya
- 👋 Spank
- 👋 Slap
- 👋 Whack
- 👋 Hand Wave
- 👋 Waving
- 👋 Yo!
👋 in real conversations
What does 👋 mean in texting?
A hello or a goodbye — the wave covers both ends of a conversation. Opening a chat with 'hey 👋' is a friendly greeting; closing one out the same way is a casual sign-off, no hard feelings either way.
What does 👋 mean from a girl?
Usually a warm opener, especially to someone new — a dating app match, a group chat introduction. 'Hi, I'm Sam 👋' is the classic use, low-pressure and easy to answer.
Is 👋 ever passive-aggressive?
Yes — sent alone at the end of an argument, it's a pointed goodbye that shuts the conversation down rather than continuing it. Same wave, but the timing turns it into a dismissal instead of a greeting.
The lowdown
- Category
- People & Body › hand-fingers-open
- Codepoints
U+1F44B- Emoji version
- Emoji 0.6
- Shortcodes
:wave::waving_hand:Discord- Keywords
- bye, cya, g2g, greetings, gtg, hand, hello, hey, hi, later, outtie, ttfn, ttyl, wave, yo, you
How it looks across platforms
Seeing a blank box instead of the emoji somewhere? Here's why that happens. Curious why the designs above don't match to begin with? Here's why that happens too.
Skin tone variations
Pairs well with
Tap any combo to copy the whole thing.
⚡ Quick round
Which joined the keyboard first — 👋 Waving Hand or 🐁 Mouse?
Runs with a crowd
👋 keeps company in hand emojis — tap-to-copy sets for when one emoji isn't enough.