The thin line above a candle body, marking how far price rose before sellers pushed it back down.
The upper shadow spans from the top of the candle-body to the period's high. A long upper shadow says buyers tried higher and failed to hold it: price was rejected.
That rejection matters far more at a level than in the middle of a range. A long upper shadow into prior resistance or into the prior-day-high-low is the raw material of a shooting-star or pin-bar read.
Do not over-read a single wick. On a quiet instrument, one thin print at an extreme price can create a long shadow that represents almost no traded size. Check the volume on the bar and, if possible, drop to a lower-timeframe to see whether the rejection was sustained selling or a single stray order.
Original diagrams for the ideas on this page. Illustrative, not real market data.
The parts of a candlestick. One candle sums up a slice of time: the thick real body runs from the opening price to the closing price, and the thin wicks reach out to the highest and lowest prices traded. Colour tells you which way the body ran.
Educational only, not advice. Spotted an error? Post in Site Feedback.