Em Dash
Part of Punctuation and Typography Marks
On Windows, hold Alt and type 0151 on the numeric keypad to insert em dash.
- Alt code
- Alt+0151
- HTML entity
- —
- Unicode
- U+2014
About this symbol
The em dash is named after its width. In traditional typesetting an em is the size of the type, and the dash is one em long, approximately the width of a capital M. Writers use it to mark a sharp break in a sentence.
British printers often use a spaced en dash for the same job, while American style favours the unspaced em dash.
Unicode facts
- Official name
- EM DASH
- Type
- Dash
- Unicode block
- General Punctuation
- Unicode group
- Dashes
- Added in
- Unicode 1.1 (1993)
- Unicode notes
- May be used in pairs to offset parenthetical text
- Related
- ⸺ Two-Em Dash U+2E3Aー Katakana-Hiragana Prolonged Sound Mark U+30FC
Click the symbol or any value at the top of the page to copy it. See the full Punctuation and Typography Marks chart for related characters.