It’s hard to believe, but there was a time before emojis when humans were forced to communicate through words alone. Communications were fraught and confusing. People were forced to exchange “u joking??” texts in order to parse the true meaning of a statement. It was a dark time.
Peruse the full list of emoji meanings below, or use this free tool to get AI-generated emoji meanings in 5 languages.
Please note: This tool may display inaccurate or offensive material that doesn’t represent Hootsuite’s views. You’re solely responsible for use of any content generated using this tool, including its compliance with applicable laws and third party rights.
Why it’s important to understand emoji meanings
We’re using more emoji than ever before, and with good reason: they’re universal, inclusive, and fun. But when adding emoji to your social media posts, you want to make sure you’re using them correctly.
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Each emoji has a literal meaning (it’s a peach), but many of them also have secondary meanings that evolve over time (it’s also a butt!). Often, the secondary meaning eclipses the first: only 7% of users actually use the peach emoji to represent the fruit.
As a result, it’s important to understand emoji meanings before you use them to avoid potential embarrassment or miscommunication. You definitely don’t want to be the grocery store tweeting “Check out our eggplants!!! 🍆🤤”, unless you’re hoping to get some very NSFW photos in your DMs.
Fortunately for you, we’ve compiled a handy index of emoji meanings below. The next time you’re wondering what a particular emoji means, or why everyone is suddenly posting the chair emoji on TikTok, you can refer to the below.
Bonus:Download a free guide to discover which hashtags to use to boost traffic and target customers on social media. And then learn how you can use Hootsuite to measure results.
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2023 emoji meanings chart: all the emoji meanings you need to know
There are currently 3,633 emoji (including my new favorite, the melting face), so we can’t include all of them. But we have summarized the most popular and useful emoji for 2023 in the chart below.
Smiley faces emoji meanings
😀
grinning face
Genuine happiness, positivity, delight.
😃
grinning face with big eyes
Happiness, delight, laughter.
😄
grinning face with smiling eyes
When something is so funny you are literally laughing.
😁
beaming face with smiling eyes
Seriously hilarious.
😆
grinning squinting face
Too funny! Stop before I pee myself.
😅
grinning face with sweat
Laughing but relieved, like when you’ve escaped a close call or resolved a stressful situation.
🤣
rolling on the floor laughing
Hysterical laughter.
😂
face with tears of joy
I’m laughing but I’m also crying! Unsurprisingly, this was the most popular emoji of 2021.
🙂
slightly smiling face
The equivalent of someone saying “oh, that’s so funny” with a completely straight face. Brutal.
🙃
upside-down face
Irony, sarcasm, facetiousness, laughing in the face of despair. (“Great news, my rent just went up 🙃”). Best used with friends.
🫠
melting face
Shame, embarrassment, “wish I could sink into the floor right now.” Also a sense of general chaos and derangement. Can also work in a heat wave. A real MVP of the emoji keyboard.
😉
winking face
Flirtatious or “just kidding!”, depending on the context.
😊
smiling face with smiling eyes
Smiling, but with humility or warmth.
😇
smiling face with halo
Angelic, innocent, sweet. When used in a joking manner, it can mean, “Who, me? I’d never do that!”
🥰
smiling face with hearts
“Wow, I love it/this/you!” Love, friendship, adoration. One of the most popular emoji of last year.
😍
smiling face with heart-eyes
When you see something that makes you go “awww!” Also one of the top-10 emoji of 2021, according to Emojipedia.
🤩
star-struck
“Wow, that dress makes you look like J Lo at the 2000 Grammys!”
😘
face blowing a kiss
Can be used as an affectionate greeting or sign-off.
😗
kissing face
A restrained smooch or whistling. Not sure who is using this one, TBH!
smiling face
An all-purpose, genuine smile for when you want to express good feelings but not think too hard about it. On Snapchat, this means this person is a best friend (but not your #1).
😚
kissing face with closed eyes
The flushed cheeks indicate romance or friendship. A more genuine kiss.
😙
kissing face with smiling eyes
A polite or friendly kiss.
🥲
smiling face with tear
Can be used when you’re smiling but dying a little bit inside. Like when your work bestie tells you they just got a new job, you might say “Congratulations, so happy for you 🥲”
😋
face savoring food
“Yum, that looks so good!”
😛
face with tongue
“Wow, you look so good!”
😜
winking face with tongue
Goofiness, silliness, joking around.
🤪
zany face
Even goofier than the above, a real “I’m losing it!” vibe.
😝
squinting face with tongue
Hilarity, excitement. Or maybe you just bit into something really sour.
🤑
money-mouth face
“Show me the money!” Success, prestige, status, or when you splurge and buy the $9 juice at Whole Foods.
🤗
smiling face with open hands
A warm embrace.
🤭
face with hand over mouth
Shock and disbelief. “OMG”
🫢
face with open eyes and hand over mouth
“Oh no.” When you see something that you wish you hadn’t.
🫣
face with peeking eye
When you can’t look away from a trainwreck.
🤫
shushing face
“Be quiet!” Or “This is a secret, don’t tell anyone.”
🤔
thinking face
Skeptical, questioning. “Huh, is that so?” Can be used sarcastically when someone says something that doesn’t make sense.
🫡
saluting face
“Aye-aye, captain!” Probably being used sarcastically because no one is conveying respect for the troops with emoji.
🤐
zipper-mouth face
“I won’t say a word.”
🤨
face with raised eyebrow
“Excuse me, what?”
😐
neutral face
Picture Homer trying to dissolve into the bushes. Trying not to give away any reaction.
😑
expressionless face
“Nope, I’m not engaging with that.”
😶
face without mouth
At a literal loss for words. Shock, surprise, bafflement, confusion.
🫥
dotted line face
Trying to fade into the background, feeling invisible, or feeling like you don’t belong.
😶🌫️
face in clouds
A person in a steam room, or maybe hotboxing.
😏
smirking face
Sarcasm, joking around, or expressing “Get a load of this guy!” On Snapchat, it means you are one of their best friends, but they’re not one of yours.
😒
unamused face
“Not funny.”
🙄
face with rolling eyes
“Not funny and also cringe.”
😬
grimacing face
“Yikes!” On Snapchat, this means your best friend is their best friend too.
😮💨
face exhaling
Sighing, expressing relief, or letting out a puff of smoke.
🤥
lying face
Like Pinocchio, this means you told a lie.
😌
relieved face
Serene, unbothered, blissful. The face you make after you know you’ve done a good job.
😔
pensive face
Thoughtful, or sad, depressed, downcast.
😪
sleepy face
Tired or sleeping. Yes, that’s a snot bubble.
🤤
drooling face
“That [person or cheeseburger] looks sooooo good.”
😴
sleeping face
So tired right now.
😷
face with medical mask
Sick, or taking precautions to avoid getting sick.
🤒
face with thermometer
Definitely sick.
🤕
face with head-bandage
Sick, with a headache, or hungover.
🤢
nauseated face
“That’s disgusting”
🤮
face vomiting
“So gross I could puke”
🤧
sneezing face
Sick, suffering from allergies, or crying into a tissue.
🥵
hot face
Sweating— from heat, spicy food, or because you saw something (or someone) you’re really into.
🥶
cold face
In addition to the obvious meaning (“I’m freezing!”), this emoji is also used to refer to frosty behavior: “Damn, that’s cold!”
🥴
woozy face
Perfect for any state of confusion or disorientation: drunkenness, bafflement, or exhaustion.
😵
face with crossed-out eyes
Shock, surprise, or horror.
😵💫
face with spiral eyes
Can be used like the woozy face for confusing situations, as well as dizziness or staring at a Magic Eye puzzle too long.
🤯
exploding head
Mind blowing, awe-inspiring, unbelievable
🤠
cowboy hat face
Ready for anything? This emoji signals that you’re down for an adventure. Giddy-up!
🥳
partying face
For good news, celebrations, happy announcements, and birthdays.
🥸
disguised face
“Who, me?”
😎
smiling face with sunglasses
When you’re feeling chill, carefree, slick, and under control. On Snapchat, this means one of your best friends is one of their best friends.
🤓
nerd face
When you’re too excited about the upcoming Star Wars movie.
🧐
face with monocle
When you’re pondering, looking closely, or thinking deeply about something.
😕
confused face
Perfect for strange situations or texts you don’t quite know how to interpret.
😟
worried face
When your friend texts, “Great news! I picked up day-old sushi!”
🙁
slightly frowning face
When you’re just a little worried.
frowning face
When you’re definitely worried.
😮
face with open mouth
“Oh wow!” Can be positive or negative.
😯
hushed face
A more muted “uh, wow!” reaction.
😲
astonished face
A “WTF!” emoji for all-purpose bafflement.
😳
flushed face
Embarrassment or shock.
🥺
pleading face
With its big Bambi eyes, this face can be used when asking for a special favor, or when something strikes you as incredibly adorable.
🥹
face holding back tears
When you’re not crying, you just have a little dust in your eye or something.
😦
frowning face with open mouth
Used for unpleasant surprises or unfortunate events.
😧
anguished face
Like the frowning face above, but the raised eyebrows add even more emphasis to your unhappy emotions.
😨
fearful face
When things are not looking good, but you’re not panicking.
😰
anxious face with sweat
Okay, now you’re panicking.
😥
sad but relieved face
The worst is over— you’re not happy, but it didn’t turn out that bad after all.
😢
crying face
Sad but trying to keep it in check.
😭
loudly crying face
One of the most popular emojis, this is used for intense emotions ranging from sadness to relief, happiness, and love.
😱
face screaming in fear
Horror, terror, just saw the biggest spider in the shower.
😖
confounded face
Frustrated, grumpy, upset.
😣
persevering face
Focused, or maybe you just took a bite of something really sour.
😞
disappointed face
Bummed out, or just plain tired.
😓
downcast face with sweat
Under a lot of pressure, worried.
😩
weary face
Tired, stressed out, anxious, or worried.
😫
tired face
Even more exhausted and ready to quit.
🥱
yawning face
Definitely ready for bed.
😤
face with steam from nose
Irritated, annoyed, in a huff.
😡
pouting face
Stronger negative emotions— you’re upset or angry.
😠
angry face
When you come home and find someone has eaten the last piece of pizza.
🤬
face with symbols on mouth
Furious, outraged, just received a parking ticket.
😈
smiling face with horns
Often used in flirtatious ways, this little devil indicates cheekiness.
👿
angry face with horns
You’re ready to wreak some havoc.
💀
skull
Death, dying, also used by Gen Z when something is so hilarious you could die.
☠️
skull and crossbones
Like the skull above, this can mean “death” or “death from laughter.”
💩
pile of poo
When something is awful, but you have a sense of humour about it.
🤡
clown face
When someone is making a fool of themselves.
👻
ghost
“Boo!” Can be used for surprising someone, or being silly.
👽
alien
Weirdness, eeriness, spooky vibes.
👾
alien monster
A friendly little space creature that looks straight from an old arcade game. For that reason, it’s popular with vintage computer and gaming folks.
🤖
robot
A charming little robot for weird, nerdy, or technical occasions.
😺
grinning cat
Pleasure, happiness.
😸
grinning cat with smiling eyes
Absolutely thrilled.
😹
cat with tears of joy
When something is genuinely hilarious or funny.
😻
smiling cat with heart-eyes
Love, delight, admiration.
😼
cat with wry smile
Sarcasm, cheekiness, mischief.
😽
kissing cat
Affection, love, friendship.
🙀
weary cat
Alarm, fear, horror.
😿
crying cat
Sad, heartbroken, disappointed.
😾
pouting cat
Angry, annoyed, upset.
🙈
see-no-evil monkey
“OMG! I don’t want to see that!” Cringing, embarrassed, or surprised.
🙉
hear-no-evil monkey
“Stop! I don’t want to hear that!” Shocked, surprised, bashful.
🙊
speak-no-evil monkey
“I can’t believe it!” or “Oops! I shouldn’t have said that.”
Hearts and symbols emoji meanings
💋
kiss mark
Showing someone love or affection.
💌
love letter
When you’re sending a heartfelt message.
💘
heart with arrow
When you’re feeling sweet or romantic.
💝
heart with ribbon
When you’re sending a gift (even if that gift is just your love).
💖
sparkling heart
An affectionate heart with a little extra pizzazz.
💗
growing heart
When you’re really moved or emotional.
💓
beating heart
When someone (or something) makes your heart flutter with emotion.
💞
revolving hearts
The connection between the two hearts symbolizes how close you feel to the person you’re exchanging this emoji with.
💕
two hearts
A sweet, friendly heart icon for romance or friendship. On Snapchat, this means you have been #1 BFFs for two months straight.
💟
heart decoration
This little cut-out heart is a nice alternative if you find you’re wearing out the heart emoji
❣️
heart exclamation
A nice piece of punctuation to end a love note
💔
broken heart
Sadness, heartbreak, romantic disappointment
❤️🔥
heart on fire
When you feel passionately romantic about someone or something
❤️🩹
mending heart
When you had your heart broken or bruised, but you’re healing
❤️
red heart
The classic red heart, for all your romantic and loving messages. On Snapchat, this means you have been best friends for two weeks straight.
🧡
orange heart
The newest of the rainbow hearts (added in 2017), orange is a cheery color for friendly messages.
💛
yellow heart
Yellow hearts can mean affection, optimism, friendship or kindness. On Snapchat, this means you are #1 best friends.
💚
green heart
Green hearts are popular among fans of the K-Pop band NCT
💙
blue heart
Affection, friendship, romance.
💜
purple heart
Purple hearts are popular among fans of the K-Pop band BTS.
🤎
brown heart
The least popular heart emoji. Brown is earthy, grounded, natural.
🖤
black heart
Black hearts have a little edge compared to the others. The leather jacket-clad motorcycle boy of heart emojis
🤍
white heart
Sympathy, kindness, gentleness.
💯
hundred points
When you strongly agree with something, or think it’s completely accurate. On Snapchat, this appears when you have a 100-day Snap streak with someone.
💢
anger symbol
Representing the veins that pop out on your forehead when you’re really mad, this emoji is used for fury and outrage.
💥
collision
This little explosion can be used for exciting or surprising events.
💫
dizzy
This emoji represents “seeing stars” from dizziness or disorientation, but is also often used along with star emojis to indicate positivity, giddiness, or excitement.
💦
sweat droplets
While this technically refers to sweat dripping, it’s also used as a NSFW symbol for sex.
💨
dashing away
While this symbolizes running fast (and represents the little puff of air that cartoon characters leave behind as they speed away), it’s also used to indicate vaping, smoking, or farting.
🕳
hole
When you’re so embarrassed you wish you could crawl into a hole.
💣
bomb
When something is amazing (“the bomb”)
💤
zzz
When you’re literally asleep right now.
⏳
hourglass
Time is running out. On Snapchat, this means your streak is about to end.
🧢
billed cap
Shorthand for cap, which is slang for a lie. It can also be used with any no sign, like the no entry sign emoji (🚫) or the cross mark emoji (❌) to say “no cap,” or “This is true.”
🎯
bullseye
The bullseye or direct hit emoji means someone has said something that’s right on the mark.
Hands emoji meanings
👋
waving hand
A friendly “hi” or “hello”
👌
OK hand
When you want to let someone know everything is fine.
🤌
pinched fingers
Also called “the Italian hand gesture” or the “Chef’s kiss,” this is used positively to refer to things that are exceptionally good.
🤏
pinching hand
When you’re this close, or almost finished with something.
✌
victory hand
V for victory! Also used in North America as the peace symbol.
🤞
crossed fingers
When you’re hoping something works out well.
🤟
love-you gesture
This is the American Sign Language gesture for “I love you.”
🤘
sign of the horns
This is the gesture you might make at a concert, commonly referred to as “rock on!”
🤙
call me hand
While this represents someone holding up a phone to say “Call me,” it also resembles the surfer-culture symbol that means “hang loose” or “take it easy!”
👈
backhand index pointing left
Like the other pointing emoji, this one can be helpful if you want to underscore a point being made in a previous sentence.
👉
backhand index pointing right
When you’re pointing at something over here. 👉. Also, when used with the pointing-left hand (👉👈) it can mean bashfulness or shyness
👆
backhand index pointing up
“See above.”
🖕
middle finger
A rude gesture meaning “F*** you!”
👇
backhand index pointing down
“See below.”
☝
index pointing up
When you want to raise your hand, but politely.
👍
thumbs up
“All good!”
👎
thumbs down
“Not good, I don’t like it, very bad.”
✊
raised fist
Solidarity, pride, power.
👊
oncoming fist
A threatening gesture meant to intimidate someone, or show them you’re really angry.
👏
clapping hands
Applause! Great job! Can also be used to emphasize words or statements.
🙌
raising hands
High-fives, celebrations, success.
🫶
⊛ heart hands
This cute emoji is used to express care, love, affection and support.
👐
open hands
Openness, affection, warmth. Can also be used by the Deaf community to indicate jazz hands, or silent applause.
🤲
palms up together
In American Sign Language, this represents an open book. It’s also used by Muslims to represent prayer.
🤝
handshake
“It’s a deal.” Agreement or consensus.
🙏
folded hands
Also called “prayer hands,” this can be used to express gratitude or as an enthusiastic high-five.
💅
nail polish
This manicure emoji represents being chill or unbothered.
This muscled arm can be used to mean strength, power, or endurance. It can sent to someone who recently accomplished something tough or important, or to show you’re working hard at something
🧠
brain
While this emoji can be used to indicate thinking or curiosity, it has also been adopted as NSFW sign for “giving head.”
🫀
anatomical heart
When you want to send someone a heart
🫁
lungs
Can be used in discussions of smoking or vaping, as well as medical discussions (particularly about Covid-19)
👀
eyes
This “I saw that” emoji can be used to express surprise, distaste, or disapproval. However, it can also have positive meanings— especially when sent in response to an attractive photo. On Slack or in business communications, it can mean “looking at this now” when applied to a shared document.
👁
eye
This emoji is often used in combination with the mouth emoji (👁 👄 👁 ) to indicate surprise, shock, disgust or horror.
👅
tongue
This emoji can mean you’re mocking or teasing someone (sticking your tongue out at them), or it can be used to mean licking or drooling.
👄
mouth
This emoji is often used in combination with the eye emoji (👁 👄 👁 ) to indicate surprise, shock, disgust or horror. It can also be sent instead of the kiss emoji.
🫦
biting lip
This emoji is often used to mean flirting, but can also be used to indicate nervousness or anxiety.
Faces and people emoji meaning
👶
baby
On Snapchat, this means you just became friends.
🙅
person gesturing NO
“No way!” or “Absolutely not.” There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
🙆
person gesturing OK
“All good!” or “Okay!” There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
💁
person tipping hand
Originally known as “Information Desk Woman,” this emoji is meant to indicate helpfulness. It’s more commonly used for sassiness. There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
🙋
person raising hand
When you want to ask a question (or you know the answer!) There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
🧏
deaf person
Used for folks who are hearing-impaired or Deaf.
🙇
person bowing
While this emoji indicates bowing with respect, it’s often used to indicate fatigue or boredom.
🤦
person facepalming
Embarrassment, shame, disbelief.
🤷
person shrugging
When you have no clue, sorry!
🧑💻
technologist
A great all-purpose “I’m at work” emoji for those of us with desk jobs.
👼
baby angel
Innocence, sweetness. Often used during Christmas by those who celebrate.
🦸
superhero
When you’re feeling heroic or you’ve pulled off an impressive feat. There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
🦹
supervillain
When you’re feeling cheeky or want to cause some trouble. There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
🧚
fairy
A little mythological creature, which is often used on Snapchat to accompany sassy or sarcastic comments.
🧜
merperson
A mythical sea creature. There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
🧞
genie
A wish-granting mythical creature. The perfect emoji for when someone is asking you for a big favor. There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
🧟
zombie
An undead creature. Perfect for when you are hungover, exhausted, or barely functioning. There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
🧌
troll
A scary mythical creature. Can be used when talking about internet trolls.
💆
person getting massage
Rest, relaxation, chilling out.
💇
person getting haircut
Getting spruced up or taking care of your appearance.
🏃
person running
This emoji can be used to mean “I’m on my way!” or to indicate you’re so excited about something that you’re running to get it. There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
💃
woman dancing
When you’re excited, happy, ready to go out and have some fun. There’s also a male version of this emoji.
🕺
man dancing
The counterpart to “woman dancing,” this emoji represents fun, good times, and a party-ready mood.
👯
people with bunny ears
Two people in matching bunny suits, representing the Japanese version of the Playboy Bunny. Often used when you are wearing the same outfit as someone else (“twinning.”) There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
🧖
person in steamy room
Can be used to indicate relaxation and self-care.
Stars and other symbols emoji meanings
✨
sparkles
A positive, happy emoji used in affectionate or friendly messages. Often combined with heart emojis for romantic sentiments. It can also be used sarcastically, especially on TikTok, where it emphasizes a facetious sentiment. (“I’m so ✨happy✨ for my ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend!”)
⭐️
star
A positive emoji indicating success, achievement, fame, good news, or happiness.
🌟
glowing star
This is an extra-special star, so it’s used for positive or exciting messages. On Snapchat, this emoji is displayed beside someone who has had their Snaps replayed in the last 24 hours.
⚡️
high voltage
Technically, this emoji refers to the safety symbol for high voltage electrical currents. It’s more commonly used as a lightning bolt, symbolizing great ideas, flashes of inspiration, or excitement. It is also sometimes used to represent the party drug MDMA.
🔥
fire
A versatile, positive symbol, the fire emoji is used to show strong approval for something (or someone). It is also used on Snapchat to indicate that you are on a Snapstreak with someone.
💎
gem stone
This glittery emoji is often used to mean that someone is “a gem”. It can mean beautiful, rare, precious or special. It is also sometimes used to refer to drugs.
❄️
snowflake
In addition to referring to snowy weather, this emoji has several secondary meanings. It is sometimes used to refer to drugs, particularly cocaine. It is also used online as an insult to refer to a sensitive person (“a snowflake”).
🍋
lemon
The lemon was co-opted by Beyoncé fans after the 2016 release of Lemonade.
🍌
banana
This fruity emoji is often used in NSFW contexts to refer to male anatomy.
🍒
cherries
In addition to the fruit, this emoji can also be used to symbolize breasts.
🍑
peach
This emoji is most commonly used to refer to butts, not peaches.
🍍
pineapple
This emoji is used on Snapchat to indicate a complicated romantic relationship.
🍆
eggplant
Like the banana, this emoji is most commonly used for male anatomy.
🥑
avocado
On TikTok, this emoji is often used by couples to mean “my better half.”
🌶
chili pepper
This emoji is used when something is hot or spicy, whether that’s a person, a piece of gossip, or a breaking news story.
🌽
corn
This emoji is often used on TikTok to mean “porn.” Because TikTok safety filters catch adult content, this rhyming emoji is used as a stand-in.
🌮
taco
Like many of the food emojis above, this emoji is used to mean female anatomy.
🚁
helicopter
This emoji became popular on Snapchat in reference to Fifty Shades of Grey (and its billionaire heartthrob Christian Grey). On TikTok, it’s also used in romantic settings.
🌿
herb
This leafy emoji is often used to refer to marijuana
🍃
leaf fluttering in wind
Like the above, this is commonly used for marijuana.
🔌
plug
This emoji is used to mean someone has connections, or can hook you up with something. These can be illicit or shady.
🔒
lock
This emoji can be used to refer to secret or secure information. It’s also sometimes used on Instagram and other social media to refer to being in a relationship (“locked down”), particularly when it’s paired with a heart or another user’s name.
💊
pill
This emoji can be used to indicate medicine or illness. It is also sometimes used to refer to drugs.
🪑
chair
This emoji became a meme on TikTok in 2021, meaning that one was laughing at a joke.
🚩
triangular flag
Also called the “red flag emoji”, this symbol is often used to emphasize danger or share an important safety warning.
🦄
unicorn
A unicorn is a mythical and special creature, so this is often used to refer to something that’s too good to be true. It’s also commonly used on dating apps by users who are looking to hook up with a couple.
🎣
fishing pole
Can mean fishing for compliments or validation.
18 tricky emojis with hidden meanings
Slightly Smiling Face 🙂
Sure, it seems benign. But this is the emoji equivalent of replying to an email with “no worries!”, a passive-aggressive gesture designed to stoke anxiety in the recipient.
Because there are so many more cheerful emoji options that you could have selected, choosing this smiley face signals tepid interest at best, and outright contempt at worst.
Corn 🌽
The corn emoji is often used on TikTok to mean “porn.” Sexually explicit content goes against TikTok’s community guidelines, so users get creative when discussing adult topics. Using the corn emoji (get it? It rhymes) helps users skirt the rules and prevent their content from being deleted.
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Clapping Hands 👏
This can be used to refer to “clapping back”, when someone responds to an insult or criticism in a witty fashion.
When used between words (like 👏 this 👏) it indicates emphasis on the statement. However, accessibility advocates have pointed out that using the clapping hands emoji in this case is a nightmare for those who rely on screen readers.
Dashing Away 💨
While this emoji represents the puff of air that you see behind a fast-moving cartoon character, it’s also commonly used to refer to vaping or smoking. Also, based on my very scientific analysis of my own group chats, it also represents farting.
Goat 🐐
GOAT is slang for “Greatest Of All Time.” When someone drops a goat emoji, you should feel pretty good about yourself.
Snake 🐍
The snake emoji is often used to drag someone for being sneaky or duplicitous. It’s most famously linked to the Taylor Swift-Kanyé feud of 2016.
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Bee 🐝
Often used by Beyoncé fans, along with the lemon emoji. Both emoji spiked dramatically after her Lemonade album dropped in 2016.
While this example is a few years old, the dramatic rise of the bee emoji is a reminder of how rapidly emoji meanings can evolve.
Avocado 🥑
This is used frequently on Snapchat to refer to being someone’s “better half.” Cute!
Leaf Fluttering in Wind 🍃
This emoji is often used to refer to marijuana.
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Cold Face 🥶
This can refer to harsh or savage behavior, like “Damn, that’s cold.”
Fairy 🧚
You’ll often see the fairy emoji on TikTok as part of a dark or mean-spirited joke. As an example, someone might write in the comment on a video “You go girl! 🧚 and don’t come back plz! 🧚” or “you have so much confidence! 🧚 no idea why tho 💕☺️”
Nail Polish 💅
The nail polish emoji is often used to mean unbothered or indifferent. It’s a little bit sassy, like saying “Who cares? Not me.” It’s the emoji equivalent of this iconic Don Draper line. It can also be a sign that someone is gay or a part of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Skull 💀
If you use the crying-laughing emoji when something is funny, you’re probably over 30. Gen Z, meanwhile, uses the skull when something is hilarious. (As in, “so funny I could die”).
Brain 🧠
Another emoji that has taken on new, horny connotations. The brain emoji is often used on TikTok to mean “giving head.”
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Information Desk Person 💁♀️
This emoji is apparently a helpful person at an info desk, ready to answer your questions. But typically, it’s used like a shrug, to mean “Who knows?” or “I don’t care!” The figure looks like it’s flipping its hair, which adds a sassy or sarcastic element.
Bowing Person 🙇
Because emoji originated in Japan, many reflect Japanese norms and culture. For example, this person is bowing deeply to indicate respect. But to many people, especially those in North America, it looks like they have their head on the table as if they are bored or exhausted. Consider your audience before using this one!
Anger 💢
Another emoji with Japanese origins, this one resembles the veins that appear on a manga character’s face when they’re furious.
New Moon 🌚
This emoji is often used to express disapproval, or signal that the sender is throwing shade.
9 more emojis to avoid in professional communications
All of the emoji above should be used with caution. Because they have hidden meanings, they might signal different things to different people— and ambiguity is never a great idea in professional communications.
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Below we have a few more to avoid at work. A warning to our delicate readers: as you might guess, many of the emoji below have sexual connotations. As always, the golden rule of professional communications is to avoid unintended horniness. We’re here to help with that.
Eggplant 🍆
The eggplant is a stand-in for a body part with a similar shape. Don’t use it! If you’re an eggplant farm, you either need to lean all the way into this sexy connotation or skip emoji all together.
Banana 🍌
Let’s just say any phallic fruit or vegetable has no place in work communications, okay?
Peach 🍑
As mentioned in the intro, the peach is 12x more likely to be used to refer to a booty than the actual fruit. That said, if you are an underwear brand, it might work for you.
Upside-Down Smiley face 🙃
The upside-down smiley face is usually used to indicate sarcasm or facetiousness (“I’m so happy it’s raining during our beach vacation 🙃”) . Unless your brand has an edgy tone, using this emoji may confuse or irritate your customers.
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Purple Devil Emoji 😈
Arguably the horniest emoji, which is saying something.
Droplets 💦
Often used to refer to the splashy results of… sexual congress. Please don’t make us say more.
Confetti Ball 🎊
Same as droplets. Just..don’t do it.
Hot Face 🥵
Users typically drop this emoji when they find something steamy or arousing. If you’re posting about the weather or a particularly fiery hot sauce, opt for a sun or flame emoji instead.
Tongue 👅
Pretty much any emoji that indicates drooling, licking, or an open mouth can be interpreted as “horny.” As such, they’re best avoided.
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Poop 💩
If you’re not sure why a smiling pile of poop doesn’t belong in your professional communications, you need more support than an emoji meanings guide can provide. Exceptions apply if you are a bidet company or a plumber.
Your complete emoji meanings guide
Smiley faces emoji meanings
😀 Grinning face emoji meaning
The grinning face emoji means genuine happiness, positivity, or delight.
😃 Grinning face with big eyes emoji meaning
The grinning face with big eyes emoji means happiness, delight, or laughter.
😄 Grinning face with smiling eyes emoji meaning
The grinning face with smiling eyes emoji means something is so funny you are literally laughing.
😁 Beaming face with smiling eyes emoji meaning
The beaming face with smiling eyes emoji means something is particularly amusing or satisfying.
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😆 Grinning squinting face emoji meaning
The grinning squinting face emoji means something is extra exciting or funny.
😅 Grinning face with sweat emoji meaning
The grinning face with sweat emoji means you’re laughing but relieved, like when you’ve escaped a close call or resolved a stressful situation.
🤣 Rolling on the floor laughing emoji meaning
The rolling on the floor laughing emoji means hysterical laughter.
😂 Face with tears of joy emoji meaning
The face with tears of joy emoji means you’re laughing so hard, you’re crying.
🙂 Slightly smiling face emoji meaning
The slightly smiling face emoji means you’re smiling politely as if something is slightly funny or not funny at all.
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🙃 Upside-down face emoji meaning
The upside-down face emoji means irony, sarcasm, facetiousness, or laughing in the face of despair. Best used with friends.
🫠 Melting face emoji meaning
The melting face emoji means shame or embarrassment.
😉 Winking face emoji meaning
The winking face emoji means joking or flirting, depending on the context.
😊 Smiling face with smiling eyes emoji meaning
The smiling face with smiling eyes emoji means smiling, but with humility or warmth.
😇 Smiling face with halo emoji meaning
The smiling face with halo emoji means angelic or innocent. When used in a joking manner, it can also mean, “Who, me? I’d never do that!”
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🥰 Smiling face with hearts emoji meaning
The smiling face with hearts emoji means love, friendship, or adoration.
😍 Smiling face with heart-eyes emoji meaning
The smiling face with heart-eyes emoji means enthusiastic love or affection.
🤩 Star-struck emoji meaning
The star-struck emoji means you’ve seen something particularly impressive or fascinating.
😘 Face blowing a kiss emoji meaning
The face blowing a kiss emoji means a kiss goodbye. Can be used as an affectionate greeting or sign-off.
😗 Kissing face emoji meaning
The kissing face emoji means a restrained smooch or whistle.
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Smiling face emoji meaning
The smiling face emoji means an all-purpose, genuine smile. On Snapchat, this means this person is a best friend (but not your #1).
😚 Kissing face with closed eyes emoji meaning
The kissing face with closed eyes emoji means affection or romantic love.
😙 Kissing face with smiling eyes emoji meaning
The kissing face with smiling eyes emoji means a polite or friendly kiss.
🥲 Smiling face with tear emoji meaning
The smiling face with tear emoji means something is bittersweet or particularly touching.
😋 Face savoring food emoji meaning
The face savoring food emoji means that something is or looks delicious. This can also mean that someone looks attractive.
😛 Face with tongue emoji meaning
The face with tongue emoji means something is silly, cute or exciting.
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😜 Winking face with tongue emoji meaning
The winking face with tongue emoji means something is goofy or silly.
🤪 Zany face emoji meaning
The zany face emoji means something is extra silly or fun.
😝 Squinting face with tongue emoji meaning
The squinting face with tongue emoji means exuberant hilarity or excitement.
🤑 Money-mouth face emoji meaning
The money-mouth face emoji means success, prestige or status.
🤗 Smiling face with open hands emoji meaning
The smiling face with open hands emoji means a warm embrace or jazz hands.
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🤭 Face with hand over mouth emoji meaning
The face with hand over mouth emoji means coy laughter or embarrassment.
🫢 Face with open eyes and hand over mouth emoji meaning
The face with open eyes and hand over mouth emoji means shock, surprise or disbelief.
🫣 Face with peeking eye emoji meaning
The face with peeking eye emoji means you want to look away from something embarrassing or frightening but are unable to.
🤫 Shushing face emoji meaning
The shushing face emoji means “Be quiet!” or “This is a secret, don’t tell anyone.”
🤔 Thinking face emoji meaning
The thinking face emoji means pondering or deep in thought. Can be used sarcastically when something doesn’t make sense.
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🫡 Saluting face emoji meaning
The saluting face emoji means pride, patriotism or respect. Can also be used sarcastically.
🤐 Zipper-mouth face emoji meaning
The zipper-mouth face emoji means confidentiality or secrecy.
🤨 Face with raised eyebrow emoji meaning
The face with raised eyebrow emoji means suspicion, skepticism, or disbelief.
😐 Neutral face emoji meaning
The neutral face emoji means neutrality or mild irritation. Trying not to give away any reaction.
😑 Expressionless face emoji meaning
The expressionless face emoji means frustration or annoyance.
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😶 Face without mouth emoji meaning
The face without mouth emoji means shock, surprise, or confusion.
🫥 Dotted line face emoji meaning
The dotted line face emoji means trying to fade into the background or feeling invisible.
😶🌫️ Face in clouds emoji meaning
The face in clouds emoji means feeling foggy or confused. Can also mean surrounded by smoke.
😏 Smirking face emoji meaning
The smirking face emoji means something is mischievous, flirtatious or suggestive. On Snapchat, it means you are one of their best friends, but they’re not one of yours.
😒 Unamused face emoji meaning
The unamused face emoji means something is unfunny or irritating.
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🙄 Face with rolling eyes emoji meaning
The face with rolling eyes emoji means something is unfunny, boring, or frustrating.
😬 Grimacing face emoji meaning
The grimacing face emoji means something is embarrassing or awkward. On Snapchat, this means your best friend is their best friend too.
😮💨 Face exhaling emoji meaning
The face exhaling emoji means relief, exhaustion, or disappointment.
🤥 Lying face emoji meaning
The lying face emoji means deceit or dishonesty. Like Pinocchio, your nose is growing.
😌 Relieved face emoji meaning
The relieved face emoji means serene, unbothered, or blissful. This is the face you make after you know you’ve done a good job.
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😔 Pensive face emoji meaning
The pensive face emoji means quietly sad, depressed, or disappointed.
😪 Sleepy face emoji meaning
The sleepy face emoji means tired or sleeping. In anime or manga, a snot bubble indicates a character is tired or sleepy.
🤤 Drooling face emoji meaning
The drooling face emoji means desire or admiration.
😴 Sleeping face emoji meaning
The sleeping face emoji means sleep or boredom.
😷 Face with medical mask emoji meaning
The face with medical mask emoji means sick or taking precautions to avoid getting sick.
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🤒 Face with thermometer emoji meaning
The face with thermometer emoji means sick with a cold or flu.
🤕 Face with head-bandage emoji meaning
The face with head-bandage emoji means sick with a headache or physical pain.
🤢 Nauseated face emoji meaning
The nauseated face emoji means physical illness or more general disgust.
🤮 Face vomiting emoji meaning
The face vomiting emoji means physical illness or intense disgust.
🤧 Sneezing face emoji meaning
The sneezing face emoji means sick, especially with allergies, or crying into a tissue.
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🥵 Hot face emoji meaning
The hot face emoji means sweating from heat, spicy food, or because you saw something (or someone) you’re really into.
🥶 Cold face emoji meaning
The cold face emoji means physically cold or unfriendly behavior.
🥴 Woozy face emoji meaning
The woozy face emoji means any state of confusion, disorientation, or infatuation.
😵 Face with crossed-out eyes emoji meaning
The face with crossed-out eyes emoji means shock, surprise, or horror. Can also represent intoxication or death.
😵💫 Face with spiral eyes emoji meaning
The face with spiral eyes emoji means confusion, dizziness, or disorientation.
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🤯 Exploding head emoji meaning
The exploding head emoji means something is mind-blowing, awe-inspiring, or unbelievable.
🤠 Cowboy hat face emoji meaning
The cowboy hat face emoji means exuberance, whimsy, or confidence.
🥳 Partying face emoji meaning
The partying face emoji means good news, celebrations, happy announcements, and birthdays.
The disguised face emoji means someone is hiding or in disguise.
😎 Smiling face with sunglasses emoji meaning
The smiling face with sunglasses emoji means confident, carefree, or cool. On Snapchat, this means one of your best friends is one of their best friends.
🤓 Nerd face emoji meaning
The nerd face emoji means dorky enthusiasm or interests.
🧐 Face with monocle emoji meaning
The face with monocle emoji means pondering, looking closely, or thinking deeply about something.
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😕 Confused face emoji meaning
The confused face emoji means something is strange or difficult to interpret.
😟 Worried face emoji meaning
The worried face emoji means something is particularly sad, tense, or upsetting.
🙁 Slightly frowning face emoji meaning
The slightly frowning face emoji means mild worry or concern.
Frowning face emoji meaning
The frowning face emoji means moderate concern or disappointment.
😮 Face with open mouth emoji meaning
The face with open mouth emoji means mild surprise, shock, or disbelief.
😯 Hushed face emoji meaning
The hushed face emoji means surprise, embarrassment, or mild excitement.
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😲 Astonished face emoji meaning
The astonished face emoji means awe, admiration, excitement, or concern.
😳 Flushed face emoji meaning
The flushed face emoji means embarrassment or shock.
🥺 Pleading face emoji meaning
The pleading face emoji means adoration or pleading.
🥹 Face holding back tears emoji meaning
The face holding back tears emoji means sadness, gratitude, or admiration.
😦 Frowning face with open mouth emoji meaning
The frowning face with open mouth emoji means something is an unpleasant or unfortunate surprise.
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😧 Anguished face emoji meaning
The anguished face emoji means alarm, confusion or sadness.
😨 Fearful face emoji meaning
The fearful face emoji means something is upsetting but not devastating. Can mean fear, amazement, shock or sadness.
😰 Anxious face with sweat emoji meaning
The anxious face with sweat emoji means sadness, disappointment or fear.
😥 Sad but relieved face emoji meaning
The sad but relieved face emoji means mild frustration or upset. The worst is over — you’re not happy, but it didn’t turn out that bad after all.
😢 Crying face emoji meaning
The crying face emoji means moderate sadness or pain. Sad, but trying to keep it in check.
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😭 Loudly crying face emoji meaning
The loudly crying face emoji means intense emotion. Can be used to convey sadness, relief, laughter, and joy.
😱 Face screaming in fear emoji meaning
The face screaming in fear emoji means intense or exaggerated emotion. Can be used to represent horror or fright as well as awe or excitement.
😖 Confounded face emoji meaning
The confounded face emoji means you are overcome by emotion. Can be used to represent frustration, irritation or disgust.
😣 Persevering face emoji meaning
The persevering face emoji means you are focused or putting in serious effort.
😞 Disappointed face emoji meaning
The disappointed face emoji means general unhappiness, including disappointment, regret, grief, or stress.
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😓 Downcast face with sweat emoji meaning
The downcast face with sweat emoji means under a lot of pressure, worried or frustrated.
😩 Weary face emoji meaning
The weary face emoji means tired, stressed out, anxious or worried.
😫 Tired face emoji meaning
The tired face emoji means tired, frustrated or sad. Depending on context, can also mean overwhelmed by excitement or affection.
🥱 Yawning face emoji meaning
The yawning face emoji means you are tired or bored by a conversation.
😤 Face with steam from nose emoji meaning
The face with steam from nose emoji means irritation, anger or contempt. Can also mean pride or empowerment.
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😡 Pouting face emoji meaning
The pouting face emoji means intense anger or rage.
😠 Angry face emoji meaning
The angry face emoji means anger, irritation or outrage.
🤬 Face with symbols on mouth emoji meaning
The face with symbols on mouth emoji means fury, outrage or frustration. The symbols represent obscenities.
😈 Smiling face with horns emoji meaning
The smiling face with horns emoji means mischief or excitement. Often used in flirtatious ways.
👿 Angry face with horns emoji meaning
The angry face with horns emoji means anger or menace. Commonly used to represent devils or devilish behavior.
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💀 Skull emoji meaning
The skull emoji means death or dying, usually in a figurative sense. Used by Gen Z when something is so hilarious you could die.
☠️ Skull and crossbones emoji meaning
The skull and crossbones emoji means death or danger. Similar to the skull emoji.
💩 Pile of poo emoji meaning
The pile of poo emoji means something is awful, but you have a sense of humor about it.
🤡 Clown face emoji meaning
The clown face emoji means something is creepy, foolish or selfish. Used when someone is making a fool of themselves.
👻 Ghost emoji meaning
The ghost emoji means something is surprising, funny or goofy. Generally used in a friendly way.
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👽 Alien emoji meaning
The alien emoji means something is weird, eerie or spooky, but in a playful way.
👾 Alien monster emoji meaning
The alien monster emoji means something is weird, wacky or exciting. Because the pixelated design looks straight out of an old arcade game, it’s popular with vintage computer and gaming folks.
🤖 Robot emoji meaning
The robot emoji means something is weird, nerdy or particularly technical.
😺 Grinning cat emoji meaning
The grinning cat emoji means general pleasure or happiness. This is a cat version of the grinning face emoji.
😸 Grinning cat with smiling eyes emoji meaning
The grinning cat with smiling eyes emoji means happiness or amusement. This is a cat version of the grinning face with smiling eyes emoji.
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😹 Cat with tears of joy emoji meaning
The cat with tears of joy emoji means something is genuinely hilarious or funny. This is a cat version of the face with tears of joy emoji.
😻 Smiling cat with heart-eyes emoji meaning
The smiling cat with heart-eyes emoji means love, delight or admiration. This is a cat version of the smiling face with heart-eyes emoji.
😼 Cat with wry smile emoji meaning
The cat with wry smile emoji means sarcasm, cheekiness or mischief. Can also be flirtatious or suggestive. This is a cat version of the smirking face emoji.
😽 Kissing cat emoji meaning
The kissing cat emoji means affection, love or friendship. This is a cat version of the kissing face with closed eyes emoji.
🙀 Weary cat emoji meaning
The weary cat emoji means alarm, fear or horror. This is a cat version of the weary face emoji, though it looks more like the face screaming in fear emoji.
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😿 Crying cat emoji meaning
The crying cat emoji means sad, heartbroken, or disappointed. This is a cat version of the crying face emoji.
😾 Pouting cat emoji meaning
The pouting cat emoji means angry, annoyed or upset. This is a cat version of the pouting face emoji.
🙈 See-no-evil monkey emoji meaning
The see-no-evil monkey emoji means playful embarrassment or surprise, as in “I can’t believe what I’m seeing!” One of the three wise monkeys representing the proverb “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”
🙉 Hear-no-evil monkey emoji meaning
The hear-no-evil monkey emoji means playful astonishment or disbelief, as in “I can’t believe what I’m hearing!” One of the three wise monkeys representing the proverb “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”
🙊 Speak-no-evil monkey emoji meaning
The speak-no-evil monkey emoji means playful disbelief or “I can’t believe what I just said!” Can also mean you’ll keep a secret. One of the three wise monkeys representing the proverb “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”
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Hearts and symbols emoji meanings
💋 Kiss mark emoji meaning
The kiss mark emoji means love or affection.
💌 Love letter emoji meaning
The love letter emoji means love, happiness or affection. Used when sending a heartfelt message.
💘 Heart with arrow emoji meaning
The heart with arrow emoji means you’re feeling sweet, romantic or love-struck.
💝 Heart with ribbon emoji meaning
The heart with ribbon emoji means you’re sending a gift (even if that gift is just your love).
💖 Sparkling heart emoji meaning
The sparkling heart emoji means you’re feeling playful and affectionate.
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💗 Growing heart emoji meaning
The growing heart emoji means your heart is growing in size, as if you’re really moved or overcome by emotion.
💓 Beating heart emoji meaning
The beating heart emoji means passionate love or excitement. Used when someone (or something) makes your heart flutter with emotion.
💞 Revolving hearts emoji meaning
The revolving hearts emoji means infatuation or falling in love.
💕 Two hearts emoji meaning
The two hearts emoji means mutual love, affection or encouragement. On Snapchat, this means you have been #1 bffs for two months straight.
💟 Heart decoration emoji meaning
The heart decoration emoji means love, affection or admiration.
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❣️ Heart exclamation emoji meaning
The heart exclamation emoji means love or affection. Commonly used to express enthusiastic agreement.
💔 Broken heart emoji meaning
The broken heart emoji means sadness, heartbreak or romantic disappointment.
❤️🔥 Heart on fire emoji meaning
The heart on fire emoji means passionate love or intense feelings about someone or something.
❤️🩹 Mending heart emoji meaning
The mending heart emoji means healing or recovering from a broken heart.
❤️ Red heart emoji meaning
The red heart emoji means gratitude, love, hope and other warm feelings. This is the most popular heart emoji. On Snapchat, this means you have been best friends for two weeks straight.
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🧡 Orange heart emoji meaning
The orange heart emoji means love, support or admiration. The newest of the rainbow hearts (added in 2017), orange is also a cheery color for friendly messages.
💛 Yellow heart emoji meaning
The yellow heart emoji means affection, optimism, friendship or kindness. On Snapchat, this means you are #1 best friends.
💚 Green heart emoji meaning
The green heart emoji means love, support or admiration. Green hearts are popular among fans of the K-Pop band NCT.
💙 Blue heart emoji meaning
The blue heart emoji means affection, friendship or romance.
💜 Purple heart emoji meaning
The purple heart emoji means love, support or admiration. Purple hearts are popular among fans of the K-Pop band BTS.
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🤎 Brown heart emoji meaning
The brown heart emoji means love or affection. Often used to represent racial identity.
🖤 Black heart emoji meaning
The black heart emoji means sorrow or dark humor. The leather jacket-clad motorcycle bad boy of heart emojis.
🤍 White heart emoji meaning
The white heart emoji means sympathy, kindness or gentleness.
💯 Hundred points emoji meaning
The hundred points emoji means you strongly agree with something or think it’s completely accurate. On Snapchat, this appears when you have a 100-day Snap streak with someone.
💢 Anger symbol emoji meaning
The anger symbol emoji means fury or outrage. Meant to depict the veins that pop out on your forehead when you’re really mad.
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💥 Collision emoji meaning
The collision emoji means general excitement, like an explosion of joy or surprise.
💫 Dizzy emoji meaning
The dizzy emoji means “seeing stars” from dizziness or disorientation but is also often used along with star emojis to indicate positivity, giddiness or excitement.
💦 Sweat droplets emoji meaning
The sweat droplets emoji mean liquid in general. While this technically refers to sweat dripping, it’s also used as a NSFW symbol for sex.
💨 Dashing away emoji meaning
The dashing away emoji means running fast (and represents the little puff of air that cartoon characters leave behind as they speed away). It’s also used to indicate vaping, smoking or farting.
🕳 Hole emoji meaning
The hole emoji means all types of literal and figurative holes. Can be used when you’re so embarrassed you wish you could crawl into a hole.
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💣 Bomb emoji meaning
The bomb emoji means something is explosive or amazing. Usually not meant literally.
💤 Zzz emoji meaning
The Zzz emoji means sleep, snoring or dreaming. Can also mean something is boring.
⏳ Hourglass not done emoji meaning
The hourglass not done emoji means time is running out.
⏳ Hourglass done emoji meaning
The hourglass done emoji means time has run out. On Snapchat, this means your streak is about to end.
🧢 Billed cap emoji meaning
The billed cap emoji is shorthand for cap, which is slang for a lie. It’s often used on social platforms like TikTok when someone thinks a user is lying. It can also be used with any no sign, like the no entry sign emoji (🚫) or the cross mark emoji (❌) to say “no cap,” or “This is true.”
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🎯 Bullseye emoji meaning
The bullseye or direct hit emoji means someone has said something that’s right on the mark. Nailed it.
Hands and body parts emoji meanings
👋 Waving hand emoji meaning
The waving hand emoji means either “Hello” or “Goodbye.”
👌 OK hand emoji meaning
The OK hand emoji means “I’m okay” or “Sounds good.”
🤌 Pinched fingers emoji meaning
The pinched fingers emoji, also known as “the Italian hand gesture,” can mean something is incorrect, frustrating or disappointing. In other cultures, this emoji can refer to things that are exceptionally good.
🤏 Pinching hand emoji meaning
The pinching hand emoji means that something is small or that you’re almost finished with a task.
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✌ Victory hand emoji meaning
The victory hand emoji, also known as the peace sign emoji, means general goodwill or goodbye. In British culture, the reverse of this symbol is considered a rude gesture.
🤞 Crossed fingers emoji meaning
The crossed fingers emoji means you’re hoping something works out well.
🤟 Love-you gesture emoji meaning
The love-you gesture emoji means “I love you” in American Sign Language.
🤘 Sign of the horns emoji meaning
The sign of the horns emoji means “Rock on!” Usually associated with music, particularly heavy metal. This emoji has a variety of other meanings depending on its context.
🤙 Call me hand emoji meaning
The call me hand emoji means “Call me.” It also resembles the surfer-culture symbol that means “Hang loose” or “Take it easy!”
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👈 Backhand index pointing left emoji meaning
The backhand index pointing left emoji means “Look left.” Like the other pointing emoji, this one can be helpful if you want to underscore a point being made in a previous sentence.
👉 Backhand index pointing right emoji meaning
The backhand index pointing right emoji means “Look right.” When used with the pointing-left hand emoji (👉👈), it can mean bashfulness or shyness.
👆 Backhand index pointing up emoji meaning
The backhand index pointing up emoji means “Look up” or “See above.”
🖕 Middle finger emoji meaning
The middle finger emoji means you’re flipping the bird. A rude gesture meaning “F*** you!”
👇 Backhand index pointing down emoji meaning
The backhand index pointing down emoji means “See below.”
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☝ Index pointing up emoji meaning
The index pointing up emoji means you want to raise your hand, but politely. Can also represent the number one.
👍 Thumbs up emoji meaning
The thumbs up emoji means approval or “All good!”
👎 Thumbs down emoji meaning
The thumbs down emoji means disapproval, or “Not good, I don’t like it, very bad.”
✊ Raised fist emoji meaning
The raised fist emoji means solidarity, celebration, pride or power.
👊 Oncoming fist emoji meaning
The oncoming fist emoji means you either want to punch someone or fist-bump them in solidarity.
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👏 Clapping hands emoji meaning
The clapping hands emoji means applause or “Great job!” Can also be used to emphasize words or statements.
🙌 Raising hands emoji meaning
The raising hands emoji means general celebration, including high fives.
🫶 Heart hands emoji meaning
The heart hands emoji means care, love, affection or support.
👐 Open hands emoji meaning
The open hands emoji means openness, affection or warmth. Can also be used by the Deaf community to indicate jazz hands or silent applause.
🤲 Palms up together emoji meaning
The palms up together emoji means “an open book” in American Sign Language. This emoji is also used by Muslims to represent prayer.
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🤝 Handshake emoji meaning
The handshake emoji means agreement or consensus. “It’s a deal.”
🙏 Folded hands emoji meaning
The folded hands emoji means gratitude or an enthusiastic high-five. Also called the “prayer hands” emoji.
💅 Nail polish emoji meaning
The nail polish emoji means you feel chill, nonchalant or unbothered.
✍️ Writing hand emoji meaning
The writing hand emoji means you’re taking notes or writing down advice to use later. Can be used on its own but can be used between every word in one sentence, as in “✍️ stop ✍️ watching ✍️ tiktoks ✍️ all ✍️ day ✍️.”
💪 Flexed biceps emoji meaning
The flexed biceps emoji means strength, power, or endurance. Can be sent to someone who has recently accomplished something tough or important or to show you’re working hard at something.
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🧠 Brain emoji meaning
The brain emoji means thinking or curiosity. It has also been adopted as an NSFW sign for “giving head.”
🫀 Anatomical heart emoji meaning
The anatomical heart emoji means anything related to cardiology or heart health. Can also be used interchangeably with the red heart emoji.
🫁 Lungs emoji meaning
The lungs emoji means anything related to lung health. Can be used in discussions of smoking or vaping or in reference to taking deep breaths or breathing in general.
👀 Eyes emoji meaning
The eyes emoji means “I saw that.” Can be used to express surprise, distaste, or disapproval. However, it can also have positive meanings— especially when sent in response to an attractive photo. On Slack or in business communications, it can mean “looking at this now” when applied to a shared document.
👁 Eye emoji meaning
The eye emoji means approval or disgust, depending on context. Often used in combination with the mouth emoji (👁 👄 👁 ) to indicate surprise, shock or horror.
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👅 Tongue emoji meaning
The tongue emoji means you’re mocking or teasing someone (sticking your tongue out at them). Can be used to mean licking or drooling.
👄 Mouth emoji meaning
The mouth emoji means speech in general. Often used in combination with the eye emoji (👁 👄 👁 ) to indicate surprise, shock, disgust or horror. It can also be sent instead of the kiss emoji.
🫦 Biting lip emoji meaning
The biting lip emoji means flirtation or anticipation but can also be used to indicate nervousness or anxiety.
Real and mythical people emoji meanings
👶 Baby emoji meaning
The baby emoji means pretty much anything in relation to babies. On Snapchat, this means you just became friends.
🙅 Person gesturing No emoji meaning
The person gesturing no emoji means “No way!” or “Absolutely not.” There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
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🙆 Person gesturing OK emoji meaning
The person gesturing ok emoji means “All good!” or “Okay!” There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
💁 Person tipping hand emoji meaning
The person tipping hand emoji means “Thank you,” but it’s more commonly used when being sassy. Originally known as “Information Desk Woman.” There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
🙋 Person raising hand emoji meaning
The person raising hand emoji means you want to ask a question (or you know the answer!). There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
🧏 Deaf person emoji meaning
The deaf person emoji is used for folks who are hearing-impaired or Deaf.
🙇 Person bowing emoji meaning
The person bowing emoji means bowing with respect, but it’s often used to indicate fatigue or boredom.
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🤦 Person facepalming emoji meaning
The person facepalming emoji means embarrassment, shame or disbelief.
🤷 Person shrugging emoji meaning
The person shrugging emoji means you have no clue, sorry!
🧑💻 Technologist emoji meaning
The technologist emoji means “I’m at work” and represents technology workers or general computer users.
👼 Baby angel emoji meaning
The baby angel emoji means innocence or sweetness. Often used during Christmas by those who celebrate.
🦸 Superhero emoji meaning
The superhero emoji means you’re feeling heroic or you’ve pulled off an impressive feat. There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
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🦹 Supervillain emoji meaning
The supervillain emoji means you’re feeling cheeky or want to cause some trouble. There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
🧚 Fairy emoji meaning
The fairy emoji means either magic or sass, depending on its usage. Often used on TikTok or Snapchat to accompany sarcastic comments.
🧜 Merperson emoji meaning
The merperson emoji means this mythical sea creature in particular, but can be used for anything related to the ocean or swimming. There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
🧞 Genie emoji meaning
The genie emoji means you’re doing someone a big favor or hoping for good luck. There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
🧟 Zombie emoji meaning
The zombie emoji means you are feeling hungover, exhausted or barely functioning. There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
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🧌 Troll emoji meaning
The troll emoji means someone is behaving like this scary mythical creature. Can be used when talking about internet trolls.
💆 Person getting massage emoji meaning
The person getting massage emoji means rest, relaxation or chilling out.
💇 Person getting haircut emoji meaning
The person getting haircut emoji means you’re getting spruced up or taking care of your appearance.
🏃 Person running emoji meaning
The person running emoji means “I’m on my way!” or that you’re so excited about something that you’re running to get it. There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
💃 Woman dancing emoji meaning
The woman dancing emoji means you’re excited, happy, ready to go out and have some fun. There’s also a male version of this emoji.
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🕺 Man dancing emoji meaning
The man dancing emoji means fun, good times, and a party-ready mood. This emoji is the male counterpart to the woman dancing emoji.
👯 People with bunny ears emoji meaning
The people with bunny ears emoji means friendship, fun, or general party vibes. These two people in matching bunny suits represent the Japanese version of the Playboy Bunny. There are also male and female versions of this emoji.
🧖 Person in steamy room emoji meaning
The person in steamy room emoji means relaxation and self-care.
Stars and other symbols emoji meanings
✨ Sparkles emoji meaning
The sparkles emoji means generally positive feelings, like love, gratitude or excitement. Often combined with heart emojis for romantic sentiments. It can also be used sarcastically, especially on TikTok, where it emphasizes a facetious sentiment. (“I’m so ✨happy✨ for my ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend!”)
⭐️ Star emoji meaning
The star emoji means success, achievement, fame, good news, or happiness.
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🌟 Glowing star emoji meaning
The glowing star emoji means something is particularly positive or exciting. On Snapchat, this emoji is displayed beside someone who has had their Snaps replayed in the last 24 hours.
⚡️ High voltage emoji meaning
The high voltage emoji means lightning or electricity but can also represent great ideas, flashes of inspiration, or excitement. It is also sometimes used to represent the party drug MDMA.
🔥 Fire emoji meaning
The fire emoji means you feel strong approval for something (or someone). It is also used on Snapchat to indicate that you are on a Snapstreak with someone.
💎 Gem stone emoji meaning
The gem stone emoji means beautiful, rare, precious or special. Commonly used to refer to jewelry, but also sometimes used to refer to drugs.
❄️ Snowflake emoji meaning
The snowflake emoji means snowy or cold weather. This emoji has several secondary meanings. It is sometimes used to refer to drugs, particularly cocaine. It is also used online as an insult to refer to a sensitive person (“a snowflake”)
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🍋 Lemon emoji meaning
The lemon emoji means something is sour or unpleasant. Beyoncé fans co-opted this emoji after the 2016 release of Lemonade, and when used by the Beyhive means enthusiastic love for the pop star.
🍌 Banana emoji meaning
The banana emoji means something is crazy (“that’s bananas!”), but this fruity emoji is often used in NSFW contexts to refer to male anatomy.
🍒 Cherries emoji meaning
The cherries emoji means the fruit, but this emoji can also be used to symbolize breasts.
🍑 Peach emoji meaning
The peach emoji means butts, not peaches, in most contexts.
🍍 Pineapple emoji meaning
The pineapple emoji means the fruit but is used on Snapchat to indicate a complicated romantic relationship.
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🍆 Eggplant emoji meaning
The eggplant emoji means male anatomy, not the vegetable.
🥑 Avocado emoji meaning
The avocado emoji means brunch or a healthy lifestyle. On Snapchat, couples often use this emoji to mean “my better half.”
🌶 Chili pepper emoji meaning
The chili pepper emoji means something is hot or spicy, whether that’s a person, a piece of gossip, or a breaking news story.
🌽 Ear of corn emoji meaning
The ear of corn emoji can mean something is corny, but this emoji is most often used on TikTok to mean “porn.” Because TikTok safety filters catch adult content, this rhyming emoji is used as a stand-in.
🌮 Taco emoji meaning
The taco emoji means female anatomy.
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🚁 Helicopter emoji meaning
The helicopter emoji became popular on Snapchat in reference to Fifty Shades of Grey (and its billionaire heartthrob Christian Grey). On TikTok, it’s also used in romantic settings.
🌿 Herb emoji meaning
The herb emoji means cooking, herbal medicine, or plant life in general. Can be used to refer to marijuana.
🍃 Leaf fluttering in wind emoji meaning
The leaf fluttering in wind emoji means wind, spring or good weather. Can be used to refer to marijuana.
🔌 Electric plug emoji meaning
The electric plug emoji means electricity or power but is often used to mean someone has connections or can hook you up with something. These can be illicit or shady.
🔒 Locked emoji meaning
The locked emoji means something is secret or secure. This emoji is also sometimes used on Instagram and other social media to refer to being in a relationship (“locked down”), particularly when it’s paired with a heart or another user’s name.
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💊 Pill emoji meaning
The pill emoji means health, medicine or illness. It is also sometimes used to refer to drugs.
🪑 Chair emoji meaning
The chair emoji became a meme on TikTok in 2021, meaning that one was laughing at a joke.
🚩 Triangular flag emoji meaning
The triangular flag emoji, also called the “red flag emoji,” means danger or warning.
🦄 Unicorn emoji meaning
The unicorn emoji means something is rare, unique, or special. Often used to refer to something that’s too good to be true. It’s also commonly used on dating apps by users who are looking to hook up with a couple.
🎣 Fishing pole emoji meaning
The fishing pole emoji means someone is fishing for compliments or validation.
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Responding to messages quickly is a huge part of social media customer service—and it’s no different whether you’re dealing with messages on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram. Luckily, Instagram has an easy-to-use option that can cut down on your team’s time responding to questions.
With Instagram auto reply, you can easily set auto-responses to common questions and messages. This feature cuts down on the time your social media support team needs to spend monitoring and replying to customers.
In this article, we’ll talk more about the Instagram auto reply feature, how it can be used, and a few message examples for inspiration.
Bonus: Get a free, easy-to-use Customer Service Report Template that helps you track and calculate your monthly customer service efforts all in one place.
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What is Instagram auto reply?
Instagram auto reply is a feature available in your Instagram message settings that allows you to send automatic responses to frequently asked questions.
For example, if you regularly get a question like, “Do you offer free shipping?” your team can set up an auto reply that will answer the question instantly rather than forcing the customer to wait for a real person to respond.
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There are a few different ways you can do this:
Instagram tools: Set automatic responses for frequently asked questions or craft canned messages that your team can easily send out via Instagram DM.
Meta Business Suite: Set up messaging automations for both Instagram and Facebook.
Third-party inboxes: Use tools like Hootsuite Inbox to easily monitor and manage your Instagram direct messages and comments.
Learn more about how a social inbox like Hootsuite’s can help streamline your social media communication in this video:
There are several ways to take advantage of Instagram’s auto reply feature. Here are just a few types of automated responses you might consider setting up:
Welcome messages
Away messages
Frequently asked questions
Share contact information
Share business hours of operation
Provide shipment and payment details
Offer discounts
Explain wholesale pricing information
Tell customers how to handle issues with their orders
Share links to additional resources
Pros and cons of using Instagram auto reply
So why use Instagram auto reply? Is it the best option for creating automated responses and freeing up your team’s time? As always, it depends on your needs.
Let’s cover some basic pros and cons to help you decide.
Pros
Make a good impression. Instagram shows your followers how quick your team is to respond. A faster response time is a better look for your business.
Answer questions before they’re asked. Create an auto-responder that gives your customers a clear idea of when they can expect to hear from a real person—unless your auto replies can give their answer immediately.
Save your team time. Stop writing the same reply over and over again. Automated messages give your team more time for escalated messages and other customer support issues.
Never miss a message. You don’t have to worry about time zones when you enlist auto reply. Even when your team isn’t working, customers can get answers as soon as they send a message.
Only for Instagram and Facebook. Instagram/Meta’s built-in features only work for these two platforms. You’ll have to enlist the help of external tools for other social media platforms—don’t worry, we’ve got more on that below.
You have to connect your Facebook and Instagram pages. In order to access some of the more advanced tools, you must use Meta Business Suite, so you’ll have to connect your Facebook and Instagram pages.
Reduce response time (and your workload)
Manage all your messages stress-free with easy routing, saved replies, and friendly chatbots. Try Hootsuite’s Inbox today.
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There are two ways to set up auto replies on Instagram. The first is pretty easy—do so right inside the Instagram app. The second involves digging into the Automations option in Meta Business Suite.
We’ll walk you through each process.
How to set up auto replies via the Instagram app
First, open the Instagram app. Tap the messages icon in the top right corner of the home feed. Then, tap on the ellipses in the top right corner of your messages dashboard and select Tools.
Here, you can set either saved replies (canned responses your team can tap on to send manually) or auto replies for frequently asked questions.
Tap on Frequently asked questions to access the auto reply feature. Instagram will typically include a few starter questions. You can customize these or use them as is—just add answers.
Add as many questions as you want. You can even show these questions in chat, so customers who want to message you have options to choose from.
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How to set up auto replies in Meta Business Suite
If you have your Facebook Business Page set up and optimized and your Instagram business profile connected, you can use Meta Business Suite to create automations like this.
First, head over to your Facebook Business Page, then click on Meta Business Suite in the left-hand sidebar.
You’ll then be taken to the Meta Business Suite dashboard. From here, click on Inbox in the right-hand sidebar.
This inbox section will hold all messages and comments from Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. If you’re looking for a single place to manage these, Business Suite is a great place to do so. The biggest downfall is that those are the only platforms you can monitor here (more on that later).
To set up your auto-reply messages, click the atom icon to access Automations.
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Here, you can set up a number of automations relating to your direct messages across all of Meta’s platforms. If you haven’t previously set up Frequently asked questions, it will appear as one of the Suggested for you options. Click on it to get started.
Select your Instagram account from the list of places you want to turn this automation on. Then, start adding questions. You can preview them in the left-hand sidebar.
Once you’re done, click Save changes and toggle this automation into the On position. And voila! You’ve got your frequently asked questions set up.
Other automations you can create are:
Away messages
Instant replies
Follow ups
How to auto-respond to messages and comments on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn
We mentioned that Meta Business Suite is great for managing your messages and comments on Facebook and Instagram. But if your brand uses other platforms, like X (formerly known as Twitter) and LinkedIn, you’ll need additional support.
Good news—you’re in luck! With Hootsuite’s Social Inbox, your entire social media and customer support team can monitor, manage, and respond to messages across all social media platforms in one space.
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You can store information about various customers so you never start a new interaction as strangers, helping customers feel seen and valued. Assign messages and interactions to certain team members so the most-equipped person can handle each specific issue.
Use Hootsuite Inbox as your social media help desk, resolving messages as soon as they’ve been responded to and keeping notes on customer issues.
Create auto-responders for every social media platform you manage with Hootsuite.
Instagram auto reply is a great way to minimize wait time for frequently asked questions. If you know common questions your audience has, and there’s a set answer you can provide, set it as an auto-response.
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This saves your team time and ensures your Instagram followers don’t have to wait for a response.
How do you turn Instagram auto reply off?
There’s no quick on-off toggle for Instagram auto reply. Instead, you’ll have to go into your Instagram messaging tools and remove any frequently asked question responses you’ve input.
What is a saved reply on Instagram?
A saved reply is a similar tool to auto replies. Instead of sending instantaneously, though, saved replies are simply stored in your Instagram messaging settings for your team to manually send out. This works if the question someone asks has different answers depending on the time of year. You can save replies for a quick response, but you don’t want to have the response be automatic.
Keep your customers happy with faster message responses, thanks to Hootsuite. Respond to questions and complaints, create tickets from social conversations, and work with chatbots all from one dashboard. See it in action.
Ever seen an Instagram emoji fail IRL? Maybe your grandma used an eggplant emoji in a… compromising place. Or, your uncle was trying to be funny and added the poop emoji to his bio.
Yikes.
Whatever the case, emoji etiquette exists. Understanding the meaning and placement of emojis is essential to avoiding terrible, embarrassing communication mistakes.
Pro tip: if you’re stuck with emoji translation, we’ve got the perfect tool for you. Hootsuite’s emoji translator is free to use and will help you crack the code on any emoji string.
Not only does the translator break down each pictogram’s meaning, but it also details how viewers typically react to the combo. Super helpful if you don’t want to send an unintended message!
Please note: This tool may display inaccurate or offensive material that doesn’t represent Hootsuite’s views. You’re solely responsible for use of any content generated using this tool, including its compliance with applicable laws and third-party rights.
What are Instagram emoji?
Instagram emoji are pictograms, icons, or small images used to express an emotion, idea, or feeling. Some emoji are universal (most people know that the heart symbol means love), while others have their own unique interpretations based on regional culture and language.
Popular emoji symbols include:
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Smiley face
Sad face
Clapping hands
Thumbs-up
Heart
Fire
There are literally thousands of emoji characters available on Instagram—from dragons and lizards, people exercising, and even ice cream cones. You can find Instagram emojis in two places: your native Instagram app and the world of third-party keyboard extensions.
What are Instagram reactions?
Instagram reactions are a way to quickly express your feelings without typing out a response. For example, if someone posts a funny meme, you can tap the laughing face emoji reaction instead of typing out “lol” or “haha.”
Instagram reactions are generally used as a reply to Instagram Stories and Instagram direct messages.
When watching a Story, click on the Send a message box to reply. You’ll then see a pop-up of six popular emoji to choose from.
You can also choose your own emoji by clicking on the small smiley face icon on your keyboard.
To use Instagram emoji reactions for direct messages, hold your finger down on the sent message, and a list of emoji will pop up. Choose from this list, or click the plus button to use your own emoji.
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Where can you use Instagram emoji
You can use Instagram emoji in comments, captions, direct messages, as replies to Stories, and even in your Instagram bio. Basically, anywhere that allows for text input.
When you’re in a comment thread or writing a caption, a list of your most-used emojis will appear at the top of your reply.
If you want more, tap the smiley face icon to access Instagram emojis. If you’ve recently used an emoji, it will usually appear at the top of the list so you can easily select it again.
Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a fitness influencer used to grow from 0 to 600,000+ followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.
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Stuck at home thinking, “Why can’t I react to Instagram messages with emojis?” No worries. You may need to update your messaging app. Follow Instagram’s easy how-to here.
How to change your emoji reaction
Wondering how to react with emoji on Instagram? There are six default Instagram emoji reactions:
Crying face
Wow face
Heart eyes
Laughing face
Clapping hands
Fire
If you use custom emoji, they will show up in your reactions, allowing you to choose from a larger selection.
To choose a custom emoji, tap the smiley face icon on your mobile keyboard. Scroll through the list of options and tap to select the emoji you want. Once selected, it will appear in your reaction selection.
To avoid any potential misinterpretations, it’s important to remember the meanings behind Instagram reactions.
Here’s what each emoji reaction stands for:
Crying face (😢) = Sadness, disappointment
Wow face (😮) = Surprised or amazed
Heart eyes (😍) = Love or admiration
Laughing face (😂) = Funny or humorous
Clapping hands (👏) = Encouragement or applause
Fire (🔥) = Approval or agreement
Remember, the reactions you use should be appropriate for the context. For example, don’t express sadness at a funny meme. Similarly, don’t use a fire emoji to comment on your teacher’s vacation beach photo.
Popular Instagram emoji meanings
Tired of deciphering the meanings of emoji for Instagram? Here’s a quick reference sheet to keep on file.
Thumbs up (👍) = Positive sentiment.
Thinking face (🤔) = Curiosity, pondering ideas.
Laughing with tears (😂) = Something is so funny you’re crying.
Red heart (❤️) = Love, affection.
Puke face (🤢) = Disgust or disapproval.
Skull (💀) = Death, danger, or something is so funny you died.
Hot face (🥵) = Passion or admiration.
Smirk face (😏) = Flirting, teasing.
Poop (💩) = Joking around.
Party popper (🎉) = Celebration.
Cat (😸) = Cuteness or someone acting like a cat.
Drooling face (🤤) = Desperation, wanting something badly.
Nail polish (💅) = Girl power.
Sunglasses (😎) = Coolness, acknowledgement of a job well done.
Eyes (👀) = Watching or paying attention.
See-no-evil monkey (🙈) = Embarrassment or hiding something.
Money bag (💰) = Wealth, success, or materialistic desires.
Smiling devil face (😈) = Naughtiness or reckless behavior.
Hugging face (🤗) = Appreciation, affection.
Wink (😉) = Flirting or playful teasing.
Silly face (🤪) = Fun or being goofy.
Nerd face (🤓) = Intelligence, nerdiness.
Confused face (😕) = Bewilderment or uncertainty.
Money mouth (🤑) = Greed or wealth.
Handshake (🤝) = Agreement, making a deal.
Fist bump (👊) = Support or agreement.
Woman dancing (💃) = Joy or celebration.
Man dancing (🕺) = Letting loose, having fun.
Tropical island (🏝️) = Relaxation or vacation.
Plane (✈️) = An upcoming journey.
Rainbow (🌈) = Optimism, happiness, pride.
Globe (🌎) = Unity, the world coming together.
Praying hands (🙏) = Asking for blessings or help.
Rocketship (🚀) = A great success or achievement.
Disco ball (🪩) = Partying or having a good time.
Peace sign (✌️) = Affirmative, agreement, or a sign of peace.
Heart (💖) = Love, care, and affection.
Cat with heart eyes (😻) = Happiness due to love.
Birthday cake (🎂) = A celebration of life.
Star (⭐️) = Stardom, achieving greatness.
Four-leaf clover (🍀) = Luck or fortune.
Sparkles (✨) = Magic, beauty, and awe.
Trophy (🏆) = Accomplishment or success.
Shooting star (🌠) = Wishes coming true.
Lightning bolt (⚡️) = Power, energy, and excitement.
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Have you ever heard the phrase, “all sizzle, no steak”? It’s the perfect “meaty” metaphor for social mediavanity metrics.
It can absolutely be exciting to rack up the likes or see your follower count jump. Of course you want to shout your reshare rate from the rooftops!
But be careful. any social metric can turn into a “vanity” metric if you’re bragging about it without any context.
Social media metrics are incredibly important for a social media manager and shouldn’t be ignored. They can be key performance indicators: numbers that inform and measure your social media strategy and help your team see where you’ve been and where you’re going.
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But here’s the thing. Not all social stats are created equal. For a metric to be meaningful, it has to tie back to your business objectives.
Lucky for you, we’re here to help you cut through the vanity-metric hype to find those beefy, meaty metrics that help you prove the true value of your social media marketing.
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A social media metric is a number that quantifies a particular action or behavior related to your social media account. A vanity metric is a social media metric that looks impressive at a glance but doesn’t necessarily indicate a company’s overall success in reaching its goals.
A vanity metric is an analytics item that can be measured but is not a signifier of real return on investment. Examples include the number of followers, likes, or comments on social media posts. These metrics are best contextualized by more concrete numbers such as click-through rate or visitor-to-lead conversions.
For example, the social media manager at the Acme Alarm Clock Company might be able to show the CEO that there are 200,000 followers on the brand’s Instagram account. But the goal of the company is actually to sell alarm clocks. And sales haven’t improved at all with this growth in followers.
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So, in this case, follower count is actually a vanity metric. Sure, it sounds good on paper, but ultimately, it’s not helping the CEO move those clocks.
The moral of the story: any social media statistic from any social media platform can be a vanity metric, depending on the situation.
The number of comments on your Instagram Story doesn’t mean much if they’re all from spam accounts.
A brand’s follower count can skyrocket, but if those followers aren’t engaging with your content, what good is that? (Which reminds us: never buy followers. Trust us.)
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In other words, a “vanity metric” for one brand will be totally different from a vanity metric for another brand. It all ultimately depends on what business success you’re hoping to get from your social media strategy.
Vanity metrics vs. actionable metrics
Now that you’re crystal clear on what a vanity metric is, you’re probably curious about what an actionable metric might be. Don’t be embarrassed, it’s only natural.
Actionable metrics are social media metrics that are all meaningful — important social media metrics that help you measure, analyze, and strategize. Actionable social media metrics provide concrete insights and can be directly tied to specific actions that drive business growth. Really, an actionable metric is just the opposite of a vanity metric.
While much of life exists on a spectrum, for social media metrics, a number is either pure vanity or truly actionable. But what side of the binary any given social media metric sits on, of course, will depend on the social media account. We’re all beautiful flowers, et cetera, et cetera.
Vanity metrics examples
We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again: It’s important to note that any metric can be a vanity metric without proper analysis. And any metric can be meaningful when presented in context with the proper analysis. That being said, the following metrics are most commonly prone to being viewed as vanity metrics for any given field.
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Vanity metrics in social media marketing
In social media marketing, vanity metrics include follower count, likes, and comments. Sure, these numbers can offer a quick ego boost, but the truth is, they often fail to reflect the true engagement and influence of your brand on your business’s bottom line.
This might lead you to ask: so, what are the actionable metrics for social media marketing? Engagement metrics like engagement rate are probably meaningful numbers that can offer you and your team some insight. Shares also say more about whether your content is resonating with your audience than likes (try putting your posts through Rachel Karten’s shareability test).
But at the end of the day, it really depends on what your specific goals are with social media and your business.
Bonus: Get a free social media report template to easily and effectively present your social media performance to key stakeholders.
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Vanity metrics in digital marketing
Digital marketing encompasses a wide range of channels, including social media, email marketing, and advertising, so this is a pretty tough one to identify vanity metrics for. In some cases, vanity metrics for digital marketing could be likes; in another case, it could be page views.
If you’re tracking the ROI of digital marketing, you need to identify vanity metrics specific to each channel to make sure that you can prioritize actionable metrics that align with your unique business goals.
Vanity metrics in content marketing
Social media can be a great tool for driving traffic to your blog posts, articles, whitepapers, or research docs… and content marketing, in turn, can be an effective conversion or branding tool. This leads many people to assume that pageviews or click-throughs are the metric for measuring success. In reality, these can be vanity metrics.
Is your bounce rate low? Is the time spent on the page high? Those are numbers that can provide context to the pageview stats and let you know if those views are actually valuable. (Metrics like conversion rates, in this case, can be far more informative about the impact of your content on audience behavior.)
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Vanity metrics in email marketing
People are opening your emails! That’s wonderful news!
But are they actually reading those emails? Are they clicking on your links?
Is anyone actually buying any of those alarm clocks you’re still trying desperately to sell? If not, your high open rate might actually not be that impressive after all. (Sorry!)
Open rates and click-through rates are commonly mistaken as the ultimate indicators of email marketing success. But the truth is that conversion rates and revenue per email are more actionable metrics that reveal the true ROI of your email campaigns.
Vanity metrics in advertising
The online advertising industry is built on the back of impressions. After all, if Meta tells you you’ve reached 300,000 people, that certainly sounds like a good use of $100. But impressions and click-through rates in advertising can be deceiving.
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A more concrete way to measure the success of a social media advertising campaign would be to concentrate on metrics like cost per acquisition (CPA) and return on ad spend (ROAS). These are stats that will more accurately allow you to assess the profitability of your advertising efforts.
While they can be really important and helpful, metrics like social media reach and sentiment scores can also be misleading out of context.
Just because someone has seen your post doesn’t mean they care for your brand or products. Just because you have a positive sentiment score doesn’t mean that your target audience likes you more than your competitor. (Oof.)
To gauge brand perception accurately, consider metrics like brand awareness, customer lifetime loyalty, and Net Promoter Score (NPS). But, again, a meaningful brand management metric really will vary from brand to brand, depending on what you’re trying to accomplish with your brand management strategy.
Vanity metrics in search marketing
You’d think measuring the success of search marketing efforts would be simple: did people find you when they searched for you? But metrics like rankings and organic traffic numbers can be surprisingly superficial.
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Instead, focus on metrics like organic conversion rate and keyword ROI to measure the actual impact of your SEO efforts. (Psst, while you’re here, maybe brush up on your social SEO skills?)
Vanity metrics in public relations
In the PR world, metrics like media mentions may seem like an obvious mark of success. But that number is really just a surface-level impression of the success of your efforts.
To really see the impact of public relations work, you might be better off focusing on metrics that demonstrate the impact on your brand’s reputation and credibility — think sentiment analysis and share of voice.
So there you have it: everything you ever wanted to know about vanity metrics for social media. Please, please, no need to thank us. Just go forth and practice analysis with all this info!
Go beyond vanity metrics and track the real value of your social media performance with Hootsuite. Publish your posts and analyze the results in the same easy-to-use dashboard. ROI has never been easier to prove. Try it free today.
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