Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

em dash

American  

noun

Printing.
  1. a dash one em long.


em dash British  

noun

  1. printing a dash (—) one em long

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Compare meaning

How does em-dash compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“The em dash is now a GPT-ism and is not advisable unless you want people to think your writing is the output of a LLM,” wrote a user named energy123 on Hacker News.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 20, 2025

Along with the now-infamous em dash, many are renouncing words for which ChatGPT is known to have a mysterious penchant, such as delve, nestled, boast, and meticulous.

From Slate • Aug. 20, 2025

In any case, humans are likely to have the last word on the em dash, if only because we’ll never shut up about it.

From Salon • Jun. 11, 2025

She also mentioned a more urgent priority, that her “birthdate be followed in the biographical index by an em dash, and then a blank space.”

From Seattle Times • Oct. 25, 2022

Transcriber's notes: TN-1 Spaced em dash is found in the original.

From Out Around Rigel by Wilson, Robert H.

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember "em dash" for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com