If a girl recently grabbed your wrist then you might be wondering why and what it might mean about the way that she feels about you.

This post will help you understand why she might have grabbed your wrist and why other girls might do it in the future.

So, what does it mean when a girl grabs your wrist? If a girl grabs your wrist and she shows otherwise positive body language around you then it would be a sign that she likes you. It could also be that she was frightened, trying to emphasize what she was saying or she was being dominating.

Since there are a number of reasons why she might have grabbed your wrist it would be helpful to consider the context of how she did it and the body language that she was showing.

Why a girl will grab your wrist

Each of the different reasons why a girl will grab your wrist will likely come with a number of clues in her body language and in the way that she grabbed it.

In the following sections, I’ll show you a number of reasons why a girl will grab your wrist, the signs to look for and the things to consider.

She is attracted to you

Grabbing your wrist could have been a sign that she is attracted to you.

It would be more likely that it was if she grabbed your wrist when you were both alone together and she was showing otherwise positive body language with you.

If she was attracted to you then it would be likely that she would have shown it in other ways in her body language as well by doing things such as:

  • Brushing her hair to the side when around you
  • Stroking her hair while talking to you
  • Standing closer to you than she does with other people
  • Holding prolonged eye contact with you
  • Having dilated pupils when looking at you
  • Laughing and looking to see if you are also laughing
  • Giggling a lot when talking to you
  • Touching you a lot
  • Pointing her feet at you when she is around you
  • Adjusting her appearance when she sees you
  • Tilting her head while talking to you
  • Making plans based on yours

She was feeling frightened

It could be the case that she grabbed your wrist because she was feeling frightened.

This would be more likely if she grabbed your wrist when you were both in an uncertain situation such as when walking through a crowd.

It could be the case that she used it as an excuse to touch you because she is actually attracted to you. If that is what she did then it would be likely that she would show signs of attraction when she is around you in her body language and that she would touch you at other times as well.

She was trying to emphasize what she was saying

People will often touch people when they are trying to emphasize a point that they are trying to make. This could be the reason that she grabbed your wrist.

If that is why she did it then it would be more likely that she would have done it while telling to about something that she was emotional about. She would also likely have shown other signs of trying to emphasize her point such as having wide-open eyes when looking at you, having an open mouth when looking at you and holding more intense eye contact with you.

She was being dominating

The reason that she grabbed your wrist could be that she was being dominating or she was doing it as a power-play.

This would be more likely if she did it when you were in front of other people, she grabbed it firmly, she did it when getting you to do something or when arguing with you.

If she was being dominating then she might show it in other ways when she is with you by doing things such as:

  • Squinting when looking at you
  • Telling you to do things
  • Tensing her jaw when looking at you
  • Talking over you
  • Putting her hands and feet on things that are yours
  • Tightening her lips when you’re talking

Consider your relationship with her

When trying to understand why she grabbed your wrist it would be helpful to consider the type of relationship that you have with her.

If she has been your friend for a while then it would be more likely that she either did it because she was feeling unsure about the situation, she was trying to emphasize what she was saying or she was showing attraction to you. It would be helpful to consider where you were when she did it and if she does it to her other friends as well.

If she was a girl that you didn’t know very well then it would be more likely that she was either trying to emphasize what she was saying, showing attraction or she was being dominating. It would help to consider how firmly she did it, the body language that she was showing and where you were when she did it.

Consider the way that she reacts to seeing you

Thinking about the way that she reacts to seeing you would also likely help in understanding why she grabbed your wrist.

If she reacts to seeing you by noticeably changing her body language then it would be more likely that she was either showing attraction to you or she was being dominating. It would depend on the way that she changes it.

If she changes it by doing things such as:

  • Sitting more upright
  • Adjusting her appearance
  • Pointing her feet at you
  • Brushing her hair to the side
  • Raising her eyebrows and smiling
  • Holding eye contact

Then it would be more likely that grabbing your wrist was a sign of attraction.

Whereas, if she reacts to seeing you by doing things such as:

  • Squinting at you
  • Tensing her jaw
  • Tightening her eyebrows together
  • Tightening her lips

Then it would be more likely that she either did it because she was annoyed with you or she was being dominating in some way.

Think about how she interacts with other people

It would also help to compare the way that she interacts with other people with how she interacts with you.

If she also touches other people in a similar way and she shows similar body language and behavior around them as she does with you then it would be more likely that she touches people a lot naturally.

Whereas, if she only did it to you and she changes her body language and behavior around you then it would be more likely that she was either showing attraction or that she was being dominating or showing that she was annoyed with you. It would help to consider the way that she changes her body language around you.

Consider when and where she grabbed your wrist

It would also be helpful to consider the timing and location of when she grabbed your wrist.

If she did it while you were alone with her then it would make it more likely that she was showing attraction to you.

Whereas, if she did it when you were around other people then she could have done it due to feeling uncertain about the situation or that she was being slightly dominating. However, she could still have been showing attraction to you so it would be helpful to consider how she grabbed it and the body language that she showed.

Look for multiple signs in her body language

When trying to understand why she grabbed your wrist it would be helpful to consider multiple aspects of her body language at a time.

The reason for that is that single body language signs often have many different possible meanings making them unreliable by themselves.

Whereas, a cluster of body language signs that all suggest the same thing would likely be there for that specific reason.

If you want to learn more about body language, a book I would recommend would be The Definitive Book of Body Language (on Amazon). It shows you how to interpret body language and understand people's true intentions.

Author

I created and currently manage Body Language Central, one of the premier sources for body language-related knowledge. Body language plays a key role in our daily lives. I hope that my website can help condense the wide amount of body language information available and allow you to make full use of it in your daily life. You can read more about me and my website here.