shake head
Wordless negative gesture
To shake one's head is to rotate it side to side, signaling no, disapproval, or disbelief: She asked if I wanted more, and I shook my head.
The gesture can also express exasperation or bewilderment without verbal communication: He just shook his head at the mess.
Distinguished from nodding, which moves the head up and down to signal yes.
- disagreeHold a contrary opinion
- noOpposite of yes
- say noVerbally reject something
- refuseReject or garbage
- denialRefusal to accept reality
disapproval · gesture · body language · disappointment · disbelief · sigh · frown · rueful smile · reject · negative · silent · unspoken · dismiss · doubt · sadly · regret · tsk · tut tut
- disapprovaldisapproval, scowl, disapprove, disapproves, frown
- Emojissmile, smiley face, grin, heart emoji, grinning
- rejectionrejection, reject, denial, refuse, refusal