How to Sign Tired in American Sign Language

The short answer

In American Sign Language (ASL), TIRED is made with both hands. Place the fingertips of both bent hands on your upper chest, just below the shoulders, then roll your hands downward from the wrists while the fingertips stay in contact with your chest. The hands seem to sag, the way a tired body does. A tired facial expression, such as heavy eyelids or slightly slumped shoulders, completes the sign.

This describes ASL, which is used in the United States and parts of Canada. Other sign languages, such as British Sign Language, are separate languages and use different signs, so this one may not be understood outside ASL. Signs can also vary between regions and communities within ASL.

Step-by-step: forming the sign

• 1. Make the handshape on both hands: keep the fingers straight and together, with the thumb alongside them, then bend all four fingers forward at the knuckles where they join the palm. This is often called a bent-B or bent hand.
• 2. Place the fingertips of both hands on your upper chest, one on each side, a little below the collarbones and toward the shoulders. Your palms face down or toward your body.
• 3. Keeping the fingertips touching your chest, rotate both hands downward from the wrists so the backs of the hands drop and the hands fold down against your chest.
• 4. Let your face and posture show tiredness at the same time, for example lowered eyelids and dropped shoulders.

How to check that you are doing it right

Practising in front of a mirror lets you see the sign roughly as another person would. Look for these points:

• Both hands are used, not just one.
• The fingers are bent at the knuckles, not curled into a fist or spread apart.
• The fingertips start on the upper chest near the shoulders, not on the stomach or the face.
• The fingertips stay in contact as the hands roll down; the motion comes from the wrists, not from sliding the hands down the body.
• Your facial expression matches the meaning rather than looking neutral or cheerful.

A mirror check confirms what the sign looks like. It does not confirm whether the sign matches local usage or whether your timing and expression look natural to fluent signers. For that, compare your version with a video entry in a reputable ASL dictionary, or ask a Deaf signer or a qualified ASL instructor to watch you.

Showing how tired you are

ASL often conveys degree through facial expression and the way a sign moves, rather than through extra words. A slower, heavier drop of the hands combined with a more pronounced tired expression generally reads as more tired than a quick, light movement with a neutral face. Fluent signers may use separate signs or modified forms for ideas like exhausted; this guide does not describe those, so check them in a dictionary or with an instructor.

Signs that are easy to mix up

Meaning | How it differs from TIRED

TIRED | Both bent hands at the upper chest, rolling down at the wrists; describes physical or general weariness.

SLEEPY | A separate sign made near the face that suggests the eyes closing; use it when you mean drowsy rather than worn out.

Tired of something (fed up) | May be expressed differently from physical tiredness depending on context; the evidence available for this guide does not confirm a specific sign, so verify it with a fluent signer.

Limitations of this guide

A written description cannot fully show handshape, movement and facial expression together, and no dictionary entries, videos or other sources were supplied for this article. Treat the description above as a starting point, confirm it against a video demonstration, and learn from Deaf signers when possible, since they are the most reliable guide to how the sign is actually used.