The Rightwards Pushing Hand emoji 🫸 shows a palm facing right with fingers up, as if pushing something away or holding it back. It means "stop," "back off," or "I refuse," and people also use it for pushing a plan forward, sending a thing away, or a playful high five from the left side of the screen.
What Does the Rightwards Pushing Hand Emoji Mean?
The Rightwards Pushing Hand emoji means pushing, blocking, or rejecting something that sits to the right of the hand.
The image is simple: an open palm turned toward the right edge of the screen, fingers pointing upward, wrist on the left. It reads as a physical shove or a firm barrier. Because the hand appears to be doing something rather than just displaying a gesture, it feels more active than a plain stop sign hand.
Its official Unicode name is RIGHTWARDS PUSHING HAND, and it sits in the People & Body category. Its keywords include push, press, stop, shove, force, resistance, block, defensive, and rejection. It also carries the keyword "highfive," which hints at a second reading: two pushing hands facing each other can look like a clap or high five.
The core meanings at a glance
- Pushing away: rejecting an idea, person, or situation.
- Blocking: telling someone to stop or hold off.
- Bracing: holding something back or resisting pressure.
- Pushing forward: nudging a task, plan, or object along.
How Do You Use the Rightwards Pushing Hand Emoji?
You use the Rightwards Pushing Hand emoji when you want to physically push something aside in a message, whether that is a boundary, a bad idea, or an imaginary object.
Think of it as body language you can type. Where a thumbs down says "no" in a flat way, this emoji acts out the refusal. That makes it good for humor, drama, and gentle but clear boundaries.
Setting a boundary
When you want to say "not today" without writing a paragraph, the pushing hand does the work. It reads as firm but not necessarily angry, especially when paired with a friendly tone in the text around it.
- Group chat is on mute until Monday 🫸
- No more meetings after 5 pm, I'm done 🫸
Pushing something away for fun
People often use it jokingly to shove away a temptation, a spoiler, or an unwelcome opinion. The exaggerated physicality is what makes it funny.
- Pushing away the third slice of cake 🫸🍰
What Does 🫸 Mean in Texting and on Social Media?
In texting and on social media, 🫸 usually signals "back off," "I reject this," or "get out of here" with a playful or dramatic edge.
Because this is one of the newer hand emojis, its slang meanings are still settling. The most common reading follows the image directly: something is being pushed away. Context decides the temperature. Alongside a laughing face, it is teasing. Alongside a serious sentence, it is a real boundary.
Common social media uses
- Captions about refusing drama, negativity, or stress.
- Reactions to a bad take: a quick shove of the idea off the screen.
- Meme-style posts where a hand pushes a topic toward the right side of the image.
- Cheerful "push" energy, such as shoving a friend toward a goal.
Remember that the hand points rightward, so it works especially well when the thing being pushed sits to the right of it in your message. Placing the emoji before the subject, as in "🫸 Monday," mimics the gesture more naturally than putting it after.
How Is the Rightwards Pushing Hand Different From Similar Hand Emojis?
The Rightwards Pushing Hand differs from similar hand emojis because it shows directional pushing, while most open-palm emojis simply display or greet.
The Raised Hand ✋ is a straight-on stop or high five and has no sideways motion. The Raised Back Of Hand 🤚 shows the back of the hand and often reads as a dismissive or casual "wait." The Hand With Fingers Splayed 🖐️ spreads the fingers wide and suggests five, hello, or an emphatic pause. The Waving Hand 👋 greets or says goodbye, and the Vulcan Salute 🖖 is tied to a well-known sci-fi greeting.
The pushing hand is the one that tilts toward an action. It implies force and direction, which is why it fits resistance and rejection better than any of its siblings.
The leftwards twin
Unicode 15.0 also introduced a Leftwards Pushing Hand, which mirrors this design. Use whichever direction matches the layout of your message. If you want an open hand that offers rather than pushes, try the Rightwards Hand 🫱 instead.
Which Emojis Pair Well With 🫸?
The Rightwards Pushing Hand pairs well with face emojis that set the tone and object emojis that show what is being pushed.
- 🫸😤: determined pushing, "I will not be moved."
- 🫸😂: joking rejection, shoving away a silly idea.
- 🫸🛑: an extra-firm "stop right there."
- 🫷🫸: the leftwards and rightwards hands together, which can look like a high five or a clap.
- 🫸🚫: a clear "no" with emphasis.
- 🫸🍕 or 🫸🍰: pushing food away, usually jokingly.
Pairing the leftward and rightward hands is the most distinctive use. Placed side by side, they appear to meet in the middle, which is why "highfive" is among this emoji's listed keywords.
How Does the Rightwards Pushing Hand Emoji Look on Different Platforms?
The Rightwards Pushing Hand looks like an open palm turned right with fingers up on every platform that supports it, but style details such as shading, outline, and skin tone rendering vary by vendor.
Support arrived with Unicode 15.0 and Emoji 15.0 (codepoint U+1FAF8). Availability by platform:
- Apple: iOS 16.4+ and macOS 13.3+
- Google: Android 13.1+
- Microsoft: Windows 11 23H2+
- Samsung: One UI 5.1+
- WhatsApp: version 2.23+
- Twitter/X: Twemoji 15.0+
If a friend has an older device, they may see an empty box or a question mark instead of the hand. That can change the meaning of your message, so if tone matters, add a few words of text alongside it.
Skin tone options
The emoji supports skin tone modifiers, so you can choose from the five standard skin tone shades in addition to the default yellow. On most keyboards, press and hold the emoji to pick a tone.
When Should You Avoid the Rightwards Pushing Hand Emoji?
Avoid the Rightwards Pushing Hand when your message needs warmth, formality, or clarity, because the emoji can read as a shove or a rude dismissal.
- Formal or professional messages: a pushing hand in an email to a client or manager may come across as aggressive.
- Sensitive conversations: using it to answer someone's vulnerable message can feel like rejection of the person, not the topic.
- Mixed audiences: because the emoji is new, some readers may not see it correctly or may read it as a high five.
- Ambiguous jokes: if you cannot be sure the other person will read your tone as playful, add a smile or a few words.
A good rule: if you would feel uncomfortable physically shoving the person's idea in a face-to-face meeting, think twice before sending the emoji.
How Do You Copy and Paste the Rightwards Pushing Hand Emoji?
You can copy and paste the Rightwards Pushing Hand emoji 🫸 with one click on this page, then paste it into any message, post, or document.
Click the emoji button at the top of this page and it is copied to your clipboard instantly. Then paste it with Ctrl+V on Windows or Cmd+V on Mac, or long-press and choose Paste on a phone. If it shows up as a blank square, your device probably needs a system update to Emoji 15.0 support.
Want to turn a whole sentence into emojis? Try the Emoji Translator. To see which emojis people are reaching for right now, check out trending emojis, or browse more gestures in the People & Body category.
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