The symbol (-) is called a hyphen in the English language. A hyphen is a short horizontal line used within words. It is a punctuation mark that is smaller than both the en dash (–) and the em dash (—) and it behaves quite differently in sentences too.

The hyphen (-) is different from en dash (–) and em dash/ long dash (—). It is a symbol (-) that is slightly narrower than an en dash (–). The em dash (—) is twice as long as the en dash (–). They are different in appearance and usage.

A hyphen is a punctuation mark with three main uses. Many people confuse this punctuation mark with the dash, but the two are quite different. The hyphen can be used in compound words, to link words to prefixes, and also as a way to show word breaks