Emoji meanings can be incredibly confusing. Is he crying from laughter or just crying? Learn how to decode emojis with our handy guide.
What Popular Emoji Faces and Symbols Mean
Updated on Jul. 25, 2024
So excited for tonight! 🥳 So excited for tonight! 😴 So excited for tonight! 💃 So excited for tonight! 💋 These sentences are all nearly identical, but they’re saying very different things—that’s 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 aren’t always as straightforward as they seem, and popular emojis can have several different meanings. (Looking at you, peach emoji. 🍑)
“People 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,” says Keith Broni, editor-in-chief of Emojipedia, the definitive guide to all things emoji. “They often follow trends.” 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 emojis—with new emojis being added every year. That’s way more emojis than we can cover and way more than you’re likely to use, so we asked Broni and mined Emojipedia for the most common emojis and their meanings—at least at this moment. Read on to find out if you’ve been using them right or (gulp!) wrong.
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About the expert
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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 convey—from disgust to love to “I see something tasty!” The default color is yellow, since it’s seen as a “neutral” 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. Also, check out these new Apple emojis that are coming.
| Emoji | Emoji name | When to use it |
😂 |
Cry-laughing face | Anytime you’d use LOL (laugh out loud) as a reaction or to show that you mean something in a funny, lighthearted way. |
💀 |
Skull | To convey you’re dying from laughter or to say “I’m dead” from how funny or ironic something is. |
🙃 |
Upside-down smiley face | To convey sarcasm, irony or a sense of “Oh, well!” |
😌 |
Relieved face | To show relief or modest contentment. |
😅 |
Grinning face with sweat | This is the visual equivalent of saying “Phew!” 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 it’s 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 something’s cool. It may also be used to express confidence or a carefree feeling. |
😴 |
Sleeping face | To show you’re tired, need a nap or want to go to bed, or that you are so bored, you’re falling asleep. |
😪 |
Sleepy face | That’s 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 you’d give someone a side-eye, whether that’s to show annoyance, disapproval or skepticism. |
😬 |
Grimacing face | To convey any negative emotion, like nervousness, awkwardness and embarrassment. |
😶 |
Face without a mouth | To indicate you’ve been rendered speechless. It can also be interpreted as very deliberately not commenting, such as when you’re gossiping. |
😢 |
Crying face | To show you’re 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 you’re 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 you’re 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 you’re feeling embarrassed, ashamed, worried or overwhelmed. |
🙄 |
Face with rolling eyes | Anytime you would roll your eyes in real life—to show annoyance, disbelief, frustration or boredom—or to say “Whatever.” |
🤢 |
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 hot—as 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 | It’s most often used as slang for drunkenness, but it can also be used to show you’re feeling dizzy or disoriented. |
🤯 |
Exploding head | Anytime you’d say “Mind blown!” |
😳 |
Flushed face | To express embarrassment or shock. It can also indicate flattery, surprise or disbelief. |
🥺 |
Pleading face | When you’re 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 are—a tiger will mean tiger, and a flower will mean flower—but 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. “People often use these to show an affiliation to a hobby, sports team or other group,” 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 you’re cringing or embarrassed or you’ve heard something you really don’t want to know. |
😻 |
Smiling cat with heart eyes | As popular replacement for the regular heart-eyes emoji—to 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 ‘shroom 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 aren’t that deep, but there are some that have been co-opted for spicier meanings—and we don’t mean that in a burn-your-mouth kind of way. “Even if you don’t use these regularly, it’s good to know what they mean so you know what other people are really trying to say or so you don’t accidentally make a mistake in a business setting,” Broni says.
| Emoji | Emoji name | When to use it |
🍒 |
Cherries | As a euphemism for breasts. |
🍆 |
Eggplant | As a euphemism for a penis. It’s so popular that this has become basically its only meaning. If you’re 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 “peach” in real life. |
🌶️ |
Hot pepper | To say something or someone is spicy. Often used in place of “sexy” or “hot.” |
🍍 |
Pineapple | Sometimes used as a euphemism for swinging or polyamory. |
🍿 |
Popcorn | When you want to convey that you’re watching something entertaining but from a distance—i.e., you’re a spectator to the show. |
🥂 |
Clinking glasses | To toast someone or celebrate. |
🍹 |
Tropical drink | To show you’re resting happily or on vacation. |
☕ |
Hot beverage | To share the latest gossip, or “spill the tea.” |
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. “We often see these used in combination with other emojis to make a new meaning,” Broni says. For example, the pinching hand 🤏 next to the money bag 💰 means someone doesn’t 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 it’s 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, “What do you mean?” or “chef’s kiss” perfection. It all depends on the context. |
🤷 |
Shrugging | To say “I don’t know,” “I don’t care” or “Whatever.” |
👊 |
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 don’t trust it. |
👋 |
Waving hand | To get someone’s attention. It’s 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 “no.” |
💋 |
Kiss mark | Anytime you’d write “xoxo” or you want to show affection. |
Heart emojis
“The longest article on Emojipedia discusses the heart emoji because there’s just so much you can say with them,” 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 expanding—with 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 “neutral” positive emotion. The yellow color indicates it’s not a red heart, so it’s 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, it’s 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 you’re “in the know” 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 you’d 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. |
🎯 |
Bull’s-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 “100%”—as in you totally agree with someone or you’re 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
There’s a lot of emoji meanings we didn’t cover here, so if you’re 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. It’s a (second-best) resource for all your emoji questions, so you don’t accidentally send your boss something better suited for a group chat with your besties. In case the damage has already been done, here’s how to unsend an iMessage.
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Sources:
- Keith Broni, editor-in-chief of Emojipedia; email interview, Jan. 9, 2024
- Emojipedia
