U+208B · Math symbol
Subscript Minus Symbol ₋
₋ is subscript minus, U+208B. Unicode records it as a compatibility form of − (sub form). It was added in Unicode 1.1, and Unicode files it under Math symbol.
Also known as
Unicode 1.0 called this character subscript hyphen-minus. The standard renamed it later, but documents, fonts and font-editing tools from that era still use the old name.
Codes & technical data
| Unicode | U+208B | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML hex | ₋ | |
| HTML decimal | ₋ | |
| CSS | \208B | |
| JavaScript | \u{208B} | |
| Python | \U0000208B | |
| Java / C# | \u208B | |
| Rust | \u{208b} | |
| Swift | \u{208B} | |
| PHP | \u{208B} | |
| URL encoded | %E2%82%8B | |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 82 8B | |
| UTF-16 bytes | 208B | |
| Base64 | 4oKL | |
| Decimal | 8331 | |
| Decomposes to | − (sub form) | |
| Category | Math symbol (Sm) | |
| Introduced | Unicode 1.1 | |
Will ₋ survive being pasted?
- Normalisation. No. Anything that applies NFKC — search indexes, usernames, domain names, programming identifiers — rewrites ₋ as
−. Safe for display, not for storage. - Legacy encodings. ₋ is Unicode-only — it has no Latin-1 equivalent, so a system stuck on an 8-bit encoding cannot represent it.
- Size. 3 bytes in UTF-8. Character-limited fields — SMS, bios, some form validators — usually count bytes, not characters.
Other minus characters
Unicode names 11 characters ending in “minus”. They differ by direction, weight or decoration rather than by meaning.
Nearby in Superscripts and Subscripts
Raised and lowered digits and a handful of letters, as single characters rather than as formatting. Useful precisely where formatting is unavailable — filenames, usernames, plain-text fields — though the alphabet is incomplete and always has been.
How to type ₋
| Windows | Type 208B then press Alt+X |
|---|---|
| macOS | Press Ctrl+Cmd+Space, then search for “subscript minus” |
| Linux | Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 208b, press Enter |
| HTML | ₋ |
About Unicode’s Math symbol category
Unicode classifies this as a mathematical symbol, which means software that lays out formulas treats it as an operator or relation and gives it spacing accordingly, rather than setting it tight against its neighbours like a letter.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I type the ₋ subscript minus symbol?
- On Windows, type 208B and press Alt+X. On Linux press Ctrl+Shift+U then 208b. On any system the quickest route is the copy button on this page.
- What is the code for ₋?
- Subscript Minus is U+208B. In UTF-8 it takes 3 bytes. The table above lists every escape format.
- Will ₋ survive being pasted anywhere?
- Not always. Subscript Minus is a compatibility character: any system that applies Unicode NFKC normalisation — search indexes, usernames, identifiers — replaces it with −. Use it for display, not where text is normalised.