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What Is the Word Joiner?

The Word Joiner (WJ) is Unicode character U+2060. It is an invisible, zero-width character whose sole purpose is to prevent line breaks at the position where it is inserted. Unlike a non-breaking space (U+00A0), the word joiner has no visible width — it takes up no space in the rendered text.

The word joiner was introduced in Unicode 3.2 as a replacement for the deprecated Zero Width No-Break Space (ZWNBSP, U+FEFF) when used in a non-BOM context.

How It Works

Line-breaking algorithms in text renderers follow Unicode line-break properties. Normally, line breaks are permitted between most characters. Inserting U+2060 between two characters signals to the renderer: "do not break here." The algorithm treats the adjacent characters as though they are joined by a non-breakable bond.

"some text" + WJ + "more text"
→ "some text⁠more text" (no line break permitted between the two strings)

The WJ is analogous to CSS white-space: nowrap applied at the character level, but it operates in plain text contexts where CSS is unavailable.

When to Use the Word Joiner

Inline code in flowing text: Prevent a hyphenated or compound identifier from breaking across a line.

Abbreviations and numbers: Keep 3⁠km, fig.⁠1, or no.⁠42 together.

Non-breaking compound words: Technical terms, product names, or phrases that lose meaning if split.

After soft hyphens: Occasionally used to counteract an otherwise-permitted break point.

WJ vs. Non-Breaking Space vs. ZWNBSP

Code Examples

# Inserting WJ in Python
WJ = "\u2060"

product_name = f"Django{WJ}REST{WJ}Framework"
# Prevents line breaks between the components

# Removing WJ (e.g., for search normalization)
text = "some\u2060text"
cleaned = text.replace("\u2060", "")  # "sometext"

# Or with unicodedata
import unicodedata
unicodedata.category("\u2060")  # "Cf" (Format character)

const WJ = "\u2060";
const label = `3${WJ}km`;  // "3⁠km" — no break between 3 and km

// Check for WJ
label.includes("\u2060");  // true

// Strip format characters (including WJ)
label.replace(/\p{Cf}/gu, "");  // "3km"

<!-- In HTML -->
<p>See figure&#x2060;3 for details.</p>
<!-- Or use the named entity (if defined): &#8288; -->
<p>3&#8288;km from downtown.</p>

Browser and Rendering Support

The word joiner is well-supported in modern browsers and text rendering engines. In HTML, it can also be written as ⁠ or ⁠. Some content management systems and WYSIWYG editors strip invisible characters — in those cases, use CSS white-space: nowrap on a <span> instead.

Related Characters

• U+200D Zero Width Joiner (ZWJ): Joins emoji into sequences (e.g., family emoji); also prevents breaks.
• U+2011 Non-Breaking Hyphen: A hyphen that prevents line breaks.
• U+00AD Soft Hyphen: The opposite — a suggested break point, displayed as a hyphen only if the line actually breaks there.

Quick Facts