Emoji meanings can be incredibly confusing. Is he crying from laughter or just crying? Learn how to decode emojis with our handy guide.
So excited for tonight! đ„ł So excited for tonight! đŽ So excited for tonight! đ So excited for tonight! đ These sentences are all nearly identical, but theyâre saying very different thingsâthatâs the power of emojis. These little pictures really are worth a thousand words, allowing people to express a wide range of emotions through emotionless digital platforms like texting and social media. As a result, they have transcended the world of tech and entered our everyday lexicon. But emoji meanings arenât always as straightforward as they seem, and popular emojis can have several different meanings. (Looking at you, peach emoji. đ)
âPeople tend to project their own meanings onto emojis. Even in general usage, they can mean lots of different things, and the meanings can change over time,â says Keith Broni, editor-in-chief of Emojipedia, the definitive guide to all things emoji. âThey often follow trends.â One recent example of that: the cry-laughing face being replaced by the skull emoji to express humor.
As of September 2023, the Unicode Standard (the body that regulates emojis) lists 3,782 emojisâwith new emojis being added every year. Thatâs way more emojis than we can cover and way more than youâre likely to use, so we asked Broni and mined Emojipedia for the most common emojis and their meaningsâat least at this moment. Read on to find out if youâve been using them right or (gulp!) wrong.
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About the expert
- Keith Broni is the editor-in-chief of Emojipedia, the definitive guide to all things emoji, where he covers global emoji use and monitors changes to emoji design sets.
The meanings behind popular emojis
Smiley-face emojis
The red heart emoji is the most popular emoji, but variations on the smiley face take three of the top 10 spots, Broni says. These faces convey nearly any emotion a human face could conveyâfrom disgust to love to âI see something tasty!â The default color is yellow, since itâs seen as a âneutralâ skin tone, but you can change your settings to customize them to five different skin tones. Once your preferred emojis are set, you can create shortcuts on your iPhone to access them easily.
Emoji | Emoji name | When to use it |
Cry-laughing face | Anytime youâd use LOL (laugh out loud) as a reaction or to show that you mean something in a funny, lighthearted way. | |
Skull | To convey youâre dying from laughter or to say âIâm deadâ from how funny or ironic something is. | |
Upside-down smiley face | To convey sarcasm, irony or a sense of âOh, well!â | |
Relieved face | To show relief or modest contentment. | |
Grinning face with sweat | This is the visual equivalent of saying âPhew!â while wiping sweat from your forehead, like you just had a close call. It can also be used to show worry or discomfort. | |
Smirking face | It can indicate sarcasm or chagrin, but itâs most often used when getting a little racy while flirting over text. | |
Screaming face | To show fear or exaggerated disbelief. | |
Smiling face with sunglasses | To say somethingâs cool. It may also be used to express confidence or a carefree feeling. | |
Sleeping face | To show youâre tired, need a nap or want to go to bed, or that you are so bored, youâre falling asleep. | |
Sleepy face | Thatâs actually a snot bubble, not a tear. But most people use this emoji to show sadness, displeasure or illness, not sleepiness. | |
Smiling face with open hands | To show a positive emotion or care. It can also be used to indicate a hug. | |
Face savoring food | To say that something is delicious. | |
Side-eye or unamused face | Anytime youâd give someone a side-eye, whether thatâs to show annoyance, disapproval or skepticism. | |
Grimacing face | To convey any negative emotion, like nervousness, awkwardness and embarrassment. | |
Face without a mouth | To indicate youâve been rendered speechless. It can also be interpreted as very deliberately not commenting, such as when youâre gossiping. | |
Crying face | To show youâre genuinely sad about something. | |
Loudly crying face | To express any intense emotion, from sadness to joy to pride. It can also be used to represent over-the-top silly sadness. | |
Confused face | This is more likely to be used to express slight frustration or sadness than confusion. | |
Winking face with tongue out | To show joking, laughter or wackiness. | |
Smiling face with hearts | To convey happiness, love and affection. | |
Star struck | To show youâre super impressed or excited. | |
Face blowing a kiss | When you want to send a digital kiss goodbye or a kiss goodnight. It may also be used indicate general affection or even understanding. | |
Shushing face | Can you keep a secret? | |
Thinking face | To show that youâre thinking or considering, but it can also be used to show skepticism. | |
Partying face | Anytime you want to celebrate, wish someone a happy birthday, say congratulations or ⊠party! | |
Nerd face | To call yourself a nerd in a self-deprecating, humorous way. | |
Melting face | When youâre feeling embarrassed, ashamed, worried or overwhelmed. | |
Face with rolling eyes | Anytime you would roll your eyes in real lifeâto show annoyance, disbelief, frustration or boredomâor to say âWhatever.â | |
Nauseated face | This emoji is used more often to show disgust than actual nausea, but you can use it to indicate physical illness as well. | |
Hot face | To indicate that someone is smoking hotâas in sexy. You can also use it to show that you are feeling warm or just finished a good, sweaty workout, but the first usage is the most common one. | |
Spiral eyes face | Itâs most often used as slang for drunkenness, but it can also be used to show youâre feeling dizzy or disoriented. | |
Exploding head | Anytime youâd say âMind blown!â | |
Flushed face | To express embarrassment or shock. It can also indicate flattery, surprise or disbelief. | |
Pleading face | When youâre begging, truly sad or feeling overwhelmed by a kind gesture. |
Plant and animal emojis
Most animals and plants are used to represent exactly what they areâa tiger will mean tiger, and a flower will mean flowerâbut they are often used more for their color palette. For instance, the pink flamingo and pink flower are commonly used in captions for pink-themed social media posts. âPeople often use these to show an affiliation to a hobby, sports team or other group,â Broni says. Fans of the Miami Dolphins football team unsurprisingly use the dolphin emoji. However, some plant and animal emojis have more subtle meanings that you should know.
Emoji | Emoji name | When to use it |
See-no-evil monkey | When youâre cringing or embarrassed or youâve heard something you really donât want to know. | |
Smiling cat with heart eyes | As popular replacement for the regular heart-eyes emojiâto show love, adoration or excitement. | |
Snake | To imply someone is lying or being deceptive. | |
Clown face | To say that someone is acting silly, foolish, selfish or dumb. It almost never means something is funny. This one is very popular on social media. | |
Herb | When you want to talk about marijuana without spelling it out. | |
Four-leaf clover | To show luck or good fortune. | |
Mushroom | Sometimes a mushroom is just a mushroom. But sometimes a âshroom refers to psychedelic drugs. | |
Cherry blossom | To say something is cute, precious or beautiful. | |
Sunflower | To show happiness or platonic love. |
Food emojis
Like plants and animals, most food emojis arenât that deep, but there are some that have been co-opted for spicier meaningsâand we donât mean that in a burn-your-mouth kind of way. âEven if you donât use these regularly, itâs good to know what they mean so you know what other people are really trying to say or so you donât accidentally make a mistake in a business setting,â Broni says.
Emoji | Emoji name | When to use it |
Cherries | As a euphemism for breasts. | |
Eggplant | As a euphemism for a penis. Itâs so popular that this has become basically its only meaning. If youâre trying to talk about the vegetable, you should spell it out to avoid confusion. | |
Peach | As a euphemism for buttocks. This emoji is so popular for this meaning that people have begun referring to their butt as their âpeachâ in real life. | |
Hot pepper | To say something or someone is spicy. Often used in place of âsexyâ or âhot.â | |
Pineapple | Sometimes used as a euphemism for swinging or polyamory. | |
Popcorn | When you want to convey that youâre watching something entertaining but from a distanceâi.e., youâre a spectator to the show. | |
Clinking glasses | To toast someone or celebrate. | |
Tropical drink | To show youâre resting happily or on vacation. | |
Hot beverage | To share the latest gossip, or âspill the tea.â |
Hand and body-part emojis
Just like in real life, hands and body parts are used to express a wide range of thoughts and feelings. âWe often see these used in combination with other emojis to make a new meaning,â Broni says. For example, the pinching hand đ€ next to the money bag đ° means someone doesnât make much money.
Emoji | Emoji name | When to use it |
Folded hands | To show you are praying for someone. | |
Flexing arm | To show strength or power. It can also be used in reference to a solid workout. | |
Pinching hand | When you want to say something is close or akin to, or say itâs little or small. Often used in conjunction with other emojis ⊠like the eggplant. | |
Pinched fingers | One of the most confusing emojis, it can mean frustration, anger, patience, dumpling, âWhat do you mean?â or âchefâs kissâ perfection. It all depends on the context. | |
Shrugging | To say âI donât know,â âI donât careâ or âWhatever.â | |
Oncoming fist | To give someone a virtual fist bump. | |
Eyes | To look lustfully at someone, or to give someone or something the side-eye, showing that you donât trust it. | |
Waving hand | To get someoneâs attention. Itâs often used by scammers trying to make a digital connection, so be wary of this emoji. | |
Person gesturing no | Anytime you want to give a definitive âno.â | |
Kiss mark | Anytime youâd write âxoxoâ or you want to show affection. |
Heart emojis
âThe longest article on Emojipedia discusses the heart emoji because thereâs just so much you can say with them,â Broni says. It was the first emoji created (in black and white), and as noted earlier, the red heart is the most commonly used emoji. This simple symbol is used to convey so much more than just love! There are more than 40 emojis that use hearts, and each one has a slightly different meaning. While we have a complete guide to all the heart emoji meanings, here are a few highlights you should know.
Emoji | Emoji name | When to use it |
Red heart | To signify love, agreement, acceptance, happiness, friendship, romance and almost any other positive emotion. | |
Growing heart | Anytime you want to express that your heart is expandingâwith love, pride or joy. This design replaced the basic pink heart. | |
Blue heart | To show love of a product or brand. Also popular when discussing politics. | |
Yellow heart | To convey a âneutralâ positive emotion. The yellow color indicates itâs not a red heart, so itâs showing general approval or enjoyment. | |
Broken heart | To show heartbreak, deep sorrow or empathy, or to send condolences. | |
Heart with arrow | To share romantic feelings. |
Miscellaneous emojis
Despite the universally accepted emoji meanings, itâs not uncommon for families, co-workers or friend groups to take an emoji and give it a special meaning, Broni says. Using the emoji can be a bonding experience, showing that youâre âin the knowâ and a part of the group. Random emojis are often used for these, but here are some miscellaneous emojis with fairly standard meanings.
Emoji | Emoji name | When to use it |
Pile of poop | Anytime youâd talk about poop (or the other four-letter variation), literally or figuratively. | |
Party popper | To celebrate good news, a birthday or something banal but still exciting to you. | |
Sports medal | To give someone kudos or recognize something great they did. | |
Bullâs-eye | When someone nails exactly what you were thinking or makes a great point. | |
Sparkles | To convey anything happy, from a clean kitchen to new boyfriend. | |
Megaphone | When you have an announcement to make and you really want the person to pay attention. | |
Lightbulb | When you have a great idea. | |
100 points | Most commonly used to represent â100%ââas in you totally agree with someone or youâre just keeping it real. | |
Double exclamation point | To show extra excitement or emphasis, commonly used on iPhones as one of the default emoji responses to texts. | |
Check mark | When something is all done. | |
More emojis
Thereâs a lot of emoji meanings we didnât cover here, so if youâre stuck for an emoji, check out Emojipedia. It not only shows how every single emoji ever invented looks on every kind of device and platform, but it also contains a brief explanation of its meaning, history and related emojis, as well as a copy-and-paste box. Itâs a (second-best) resource for all your emoji questions, so you donât accidentally send your boss something better suited for a group chat with your besties. In case the damage has already been done, hereâs how to unsend an iMessage.
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Sources:
- Keith Broni, editor-in-chief of Emojipedia; email interview, Jan. 9, 2024
- Emojipedia