Dragonfly Doji Candlestick Pattern: What It Looks Like and What It Means
A dragonfly doji is a single candle with a long lower wick, almost no upper wick and a nearly equal open and close. When it appears at a low after a decline, it is read as a possible bullish reversal, a hint that a fall may be turning into a rise. A single candle is something to check, not a forecast.
How It Forms
One candle is one period of trading. Its body spans the open to the close, and the thin wicks above and below mark the high and the low. Bullish and bearish describe the close: above the open is bullish, below it is bearish. A bullish reversal is a fall that may be turning into a rise.
A doji is any candle whose open and close nearly match, so the body shrinks to a thin line. The dragonfly is the doji with a long wick underneath and next to nothing on top, which draws a capital T. Sellers shove the price far below the open, then buyers carry it all the way back to where it started.
The made-up prices behind the drawing's five candles:
| Candle | Open | High | Low | Close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $36 | $39 | $29 | $31 |
| 2 | $30 | $32 | $22 | $24 |
| 3 (dragonfly) | $22 | $23.50 | $10 | $23 |
| 4 | $23 | $33 | $21 | $31 |
| 5 | $31 | $40 | $29 | $38 |
Candle 3 opens at $22 and closes at $23, a body of $1. Its lower wick runs $12, from $22 down to $10, and its upper wick is only $0.50. Candle 4 then opens at $23 and closes at $31, above the dragonfly.
How to Read It
- The recovery. The long wick shows a deep drop that buyers fully reclaimed before the period ended.
- The location. It counts most at a low, after a run of falling prices. It has a bullish reading only; its bearish cousin is the gravestone doji.
- The next candle. A candle that closes above the dragonfly's close, as candle 4 does here, adds support to the reading.
What to Watch For
Location is everything. A dragonfly mid-range says far less than one at a low near a level such as support, and even there it is a hint.
Three shapes are easy to confuse with it:
- A hammer also has a long lower wick but keeps a small visible body. The two differ by degree, so try the eyeball test: if the body looks like a line, it is a dragonfly.
- A gravestone doji is the mirror image, with a long upper wick and no lower wick, read as a possible bearish reversal at a high.
- A plain doji only requires a nearly equal open and close; the dragonfly adds a long lower wick and no upper wick.
Free or Premium
Dragonfly doji is one of the 10 extended patterns. Its chart marker needs the opt-in that adds them, and that opt-in is part of Rapunzl Premium. In Rapunzl's Stock Scanner, picking it in the pattern filter is free.
Try It in Rapunzl
Open Customize Chart → Chart Indicators → Levels, Patterns & AI Charts on a Candlestick or OHLC chart. Turn on Pattern Markers along with the opt-in that adds the 10 advanced patterns. A bullish detection gets a ▲.
In the Stock Scanner, Dragonfly Doji is listed in the Bullish candlestick filter and in no other candlestick filter. Because it is bullish only, the ready-made idea "Bullish candlestick today" fits it: company stocks with a bullish pattern from the latest day of trading, and a note that many such patterns do not lead to a rise.
A 15-Minute Class Activity
Measure the Wicks. Pairs get a worksheet with four made-up candles listed as open, high, low, close. All prices are made up.
- 3 minutes. The teacher draws one candle on the board and gives the formulas. Body = gap between open and close. Upper wick = high minus the higher of open and close. Lower wick = the lower of open and close minus low.
- 6 minutes. Pairs work out all three measures for each candle. W: $30, $30.50, $18, $30. X: $30, $42, $29.50, $30. Y: $30, $38, $20, $30. Z: $30, $31, $18, $27.
- 3 minutes. Check together: W has a $0 body, a $0.50 upper wick and a $12 lower wick, so it is a dragonfly. X is the mirror, a gravestone doji. Y has long wicks on both sides, so it is not a dragonfly. Z has a $3 body and a $9 lower wick: hammer-shaped.
- 3 minutes. Exit ticket: in one sentence, say why W matters more at a low than in the middle of a range.
Related Patterns
- Gravestone Doji: the mirror image, with a long upper wick.
- Doji: the broader family of nearly equal opens and closes.
- Hammer: a long lower wick with a small visible body.
- How to Read a Candlestick Chart: what each part of a candle records.
Frequently Asked
Questions
It is a candle with a long lower wick, almost no upper wick and a nearly equal open and close. Its shape looks like a capital T.
Yes, and only that way: it is a possible bullish reversal at a low, and its bearish cousin is the gravestone doji. In the middle of a range it carries much less weight.
The body. A hammer keeps a small visible body; a dragonfly's body looks like a line, and it has almost no upper wick.
Teach One-Candle Patterns With Rapunzl
Request a demo to see where Rapunzl's charts and simulator could fit a lesson on one-candle patterns. Students learning at home can start with our parents page.
Indicators, patterns and examples in this article are for education and are not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
By Nate Thomas, School Partnerships Lead at Rapunzl.