How to Sign "Loser" in American Sign Language

The short answer

Most people in the US who want to sign "loser" mean the teasing insult. The best-known way to show it is to make an L with your thumb and index finger and hold it against your forehead. This gesture comes from American hearing culture, but Deaf signers recognize it and often use it the same informal way.

Your meaning matters, though. If you mean "the person who lost a game or contest," with no insult, American Sign Language (ASL) usually signs the idea of losing and then adds a marker that turns the verb into "a person who does this." The forehead L means "you're a loser" as an insult. Saying "the losing player" neutrally needs a different construction.

Option 1: The informal insult (L on the forehead)

• 1. Use your dominant hand, the one you write with.
• 2. Extend your thumb and index finger to form an L. Curl the other three fingers into your palm.
• 3. Turn the hand so your palm faces outward, away from you.
• 4. Place the side of your index finger, or the base of the L, against the center of your forehead.
• 5. Hold it briefly. A playful or mocking facial expression usually goes with it, and the expression sets the tone.

Check your result: the L should read correctly to someone facing you, not mirrored from your own point of view. The palm should face out, the hand should stay at forehead level, and the shape should be clearly an L rather than a loose point.

Option 2: "A person who lost" (lose + person marker)

ASL often makes a noun for a person from a verb by signing the verb and then adding a person marker. Signers often call this the agent marker. For a loser in a competition, that means signing LOSE (in the sense of losing a game) followed by the marker.

• 1. Hold your non-dominant hand flat, palm up, in front of your body.
• 2. With your dominant hand, form a V with your index and middle fingers, then bend both fingers.
• 3. Bring the bent V down so it lands on the open palm. A commonly taught version places it like legs giving way.
• 4. For the person marker, hold both hands flat with the palms facing each other at chest level. Move them straight down together toward your waist.
• 5. Sign the two parts smoothly, one after the other, so they read as a single idea.

Check your result: the person marker should be one clean downward stroke with the palms parallel. The LOSE sign should land clearly on the palm, not float above it.

Don't confuse it with "lose" as in misplace

ASL has a separate sign for losing an object, like keys or a phone. That sign does not mean losing a contest. Pairing it with the person marker would suggest someone who misplaces things, not someone who lost a game or the insult "loser."

Limitations and what to verify

The descriptions above are not drawn from a supplied, verified source. Written descriptions also can't fully capture movement, orientation or facial expression, which are part of the grammar in ASL. Signs vary by region, age group and community, and other countries use different sign languages with their own signs.

Before using either version, compare your signing against video from a Deaf-led ASL dictionary or a qualified ASL instructor. Watching yourself in a mirror or a recorded clip lets you compare handshape, palm direction and placement with that reference.

Like the spoken word, the forehead L is an insult. It reads as playful between friends and as rude elsewhere. Your facial expression and the context decide how it lands.