A tilde is the wavy line symbol (~) that sits above the equals key on many keyboards. It looks like a tiny snake doing a gentle slither across the page.

In Spanish, the tilde appears over the letter ñ to change how it sounds. The Spanish word “mañana” has a tilde over the n, which makes it sound like “nye” instead of a regular n. Without that tilde, the word would be pronounced differently.

In mathematics and computing, the tilde has different jobs. Mathematicians use it to mean “approximately” or “similar to.” If you write “50 ~ 47,” you're saying those numbers are close to each other. Computer programmers use tildes in various ways, like showing a home directory in Unix systems or indicating a range.

You might also see tildes used in informal writing to show a playful or sing-song tone, like “I'm so happy~~,” though this is more common in online messaging than formal writing.

When you're typing and need to make a tilde, hold down the Shift key and press the key with the tilde symbol (usually in the top-left area of your keyboard).