Everyone uses emojis; these are bright expressions that people of all ages can use to display their emotions in advertising, journalism, and a vast range of other professional and personal ways.
Emojis serve as visual cues for a range of feelings, yet their meanings aren’t universally fixed. One simple emoji can mean a dozen different things depending on the individual who uses it and the context in which it’s used.
Regarding social media captions, texting, newsletters, and more, emojis can be used in a thousand different ways depending on the context. It’s easy to get confused about what emojis mean, which is why you’ve come to the right place.
In this article, we’ll examine the history of emojis, what they mean in general, and what individual emojis can mean.
The History of Emojis
Believe it or not, there was a time when emojis didn’t exist, and people had to communicate without them. This was until 1990, when emoticons started to come around, which were the first rough concepts of emojis. These included emoticons such as 🙂 And :-(, which were primarily used to display emotions during conversations during the 1990s. These emoticons were a critical aspect of early online communication, with people able to convey their happiness, sarcasm, or sorrow with simple emoticons.
In the late 1990s, Shigetaka Kurita, a Japanese artist, invented the inaugural emoji in 1999. The artist was a part of the development team for an early mobile internet platform called “i-mode.” The platform came from Japan’s primary mobile carrier, DOCOMO. Kurita was determined to design a stylish interface that simply conveys information to users. Here is where the idea of using emojis first appeared. Rather than typing out an entire sentence to say, “it’s cloudy outside,” Kurita wanted a simple icon to display the weather.
Kurita began sketching a set of pixel images that could be accessed directly from the keyboard interface on the i-mode interface. These images would then be sent out from the interface as their character. The original 176 emoji that Kurita created is still displayed to this day at the New York Museum of Modern Art. Kurita created emojis mainly based on symbols over faces since the goal was to create icons that would convey information more efficiently rather than show emotion.
These characters included ones that would show the weather, such as the sun or clouds, and characters to show traffic, including airplanes and cars. After these initial characters were created, the concept of emojis quickly took off and became popular in Japan.
As it grew in popularity, companies outside of Japan, such as Apple, saw emojis and decided it was an excellent idea to include them in their interfaces. From there, Unicode, the company that ensures that all text is represented the same regardless of the technology it’s shown on, accepted the proposal to make emoji accessible everywhere. Today, we use emojis on nearly all types of technology to display a range of emotions.
The Meaning of Emojis
Many people assume that only teenagers and young adults use emojis, but this is not the case. Although this may have been the case when emojis first became popular, and people were unsure of their vast uses, today, they’re used in various ways by all different types.
Before you hit the send button on a funny emoji or think that you’re using the right emoji to symbolize your emotion, think about whether the receiver of the message will interpret the emoji the same way.
One emoji can mean entirely different things depending on the person using them. Today we will explore the names and meanings of some of the most well-liked emojis.
Emoji Face Meanings
Emoji: 😘
Name: Blowing a Kiss Face
Meaning: This emoji is often employed to convey feelings of appreciation, affection, allure, assistance, and adoration.
Emoji: 😀
Name: Grinning face
Meaning: This symbol is utilized to convey feelings of joy and amiability.
Emoji: 😃
Name: Grinning Face with Eyes
Meaning: Expresses friendliness, excitement, and happiness.
Emoji: 😄
Name: Beaming Face with Smiling Eyes
Meaning: A happy face with closed eyes that expresses delight.
Emoji: 😁
Name: Beaming Face with Smiling Emojis
Meaning: A large smiling emoji that signifies complete contentment and joy.
Emoji: 😆
Name: Grinning Squinting Face
Meaning: A face with tightly squinting eyes that expresses amusement and laughter.
Emoji: 🥹
Name: Tears of Joy
Meaning: This emoji depicts someone starting to cry due to feelings of pride, joy, or something heartwarming.
Emoji: 😅
Name: Grinning Face with Sweat
Meaning: This emoji displays a broad, smiling mouth with a single sweat drop falling from the forehead, conveying a sense of embarrassment, shyness, or a smile masking discomfort.
Emoji: 😂
Name: Face with Tears of Joy
Meaning: This emoji depicts a face crying with tears of joy. It is commonly used to indicate that something is very funny and elicits laughter to the point of tears of happiness.
Emoji: 🤣
Name: Rolling on Floor Laughing
Meaning: This emoji, commonly referred to as ROFL, is akin to the Face with Tears of Joy emoji but with the character leaning to one side while laughing and crying. It gives the impression that the sender is rolling on the floor with uncontrollable laughter.
Emoji: 🙂
Name: Slightly Smiling Face
Meaning: This modest, uncomplicated, gentle smile conveys understated happiness. The emoji isn’t ecstatic or bursting into laughter but rather a simple, sincere smile.
Emoji: 😊
Name: Smiling Face with Smiling Eyes
Meaning: This emoji features a smiling face with smiling eyes and a gentle blush on the cheeks. It is generally used to convey feelings of happiness, appreciation, affection, and other positive emotions.
Emoji: 😇
Name: Angel
Meaning: The angel emoji symbolizes goodwill and conveys good deeds and helpful actions. It can also be used to jest about oneself in a self-congratulating manner.
Emoji:😍
Name: Heart Eyes
Meaning: When used in chats, this emoji expresses love and infatuation. It can convey attraction and enthusiastic admiration, similar to saying “I love it!” It’s often used to pay compliments and show attraction to something.
Emoji:😘
Name: Blowing a Kiss
Meaning: The blowing kiss emoji depicts a kissing face with one eye closed and a heart emanating from the mouth. This flirtatious emoji is used to send a kiss to someone, often in a flirtatious context. It can also express gratitude or affection towards someone or something.
Emoji: 😚
Name: Kissing Face with Eyes Closed
Meaning: The kissing face, with eyes closed, rosy cheeks, and puckered lips, conveys romantic love and affection. It expresses strong emotions of affection and is seen as sending a kiss to someone.
Emoji:😙
Name: Kissing Face with Smiling Eyes
Meaning: This emoji is used to convey feelings of love and affection towards the recipient. It depicts a face blowing a kiss with smiling eyes, indicating genuine happiness and deep affection towards someone.
Emoji:😋
Name: Yum
Meaning: This emoji expresses delight in delicious flavors and signifies enjoyment of tasty and delightful food. It is commonly used to describe food in a general sense and to indicate something is particularly enjoyable.
Emoji: 😛
Name: Tongue Out
Meaning: This emoji is often used to express playfulness and a sense of mischief. It is commonly used in flirting or to convey teasing, humor, or a light-hearted tone in conversations. The emoji depicts a face with open eyes and a tongue sticking out.
Emoji: 😜
Name: Winking Face with Tongue
Meaning: The tongue-out with a winking face features one eye winking with the tongue out. It’s typically used to joke around or flirt in conversations. It expresses fun and hilarity and is used to jest in conversation or fool around.
Emoji: 🤪
Name: Zany Face
Meaning: This emoji is a step up from the other faces with the tongue sticking out. It features the head to the side and one eye wide open. It’s used to convey goofiness and silliness. It signifies something when something is amusing, like talking about wild stories, or can be used ironically to show when someone is ironically stressed and losing it.
Emoji: 🤗
Name: Hugging Face
Meaning: The hugging face emoji shows a smiling, rosy-cheeked emoji with both hands in the air. It conveys the offering of a hug, affection, excitement, gratitude, or comfort.
Emoji: 🥳
Name: Partying Face
Meaning: This emoji, shown with a party hat and noisemaker, conveys the message of a ready-to-party. This conveys that it’s time to celebrate, whether to congratulate someone or celebrate an accomplishment.
Popular Emojis
Of course, everyone has their favorite emojis, which they use most often. These are the emojis that you see most commonly in your text messages and on social media. So what exactly are those emojis? Let’s take a look at the most popular emojis.
Emoji: 👍
Name: Thumbs Up
Meaning: A positive sentiment that conveys “yes” or something sounds good.
Emoji: ❤️
Name: Red Heart
Meaning: An affectionate emoji that conveys love and fond affection.
Emoji: 🤢
Name: Puke Face
Meaning: An emoji that conveys disgust or disapproval.
Emoji: 💅
Name: Nail Polish
Meaning: An emoji that is used to convey “girl power” or a sassy tone.
Emoji: 💰
Name: Money Bag
Meaning: This emoji is associated with success and wealth.
Sad and Angry Emojis
Emojis are used to express emotion and being sad or angry are two of the most common emotions that we feel. When expressing sadness or anger online, we often turn to emojis. Let’s look at a few different sad and angry emotions and their meanings.
Emoji: 😞
Name: Sad Face
Meaning: A sad face that conveys resigned sadness and disappointment.
Emoji: 🙁
Name: Frowning Face
Meaning: This emoji conveys feeling bummed out, disappointed, and a little down.
Emoji:😢
Name: Crying Face
Meaning: A crying face that shows a tender face with one single tear rolling down the face. This emoji is associated with someone feeling sad and tired.
Emoji: 😠
Name: Angry Face
Meaning: This emoji shows a frowning face with downturned eyebrows and conveys anger, grumpiness or irritation.
Emoji: 😡
Name: Enraged Face
Meaning: This is an incredibly angry emoji that shows a red face in anger and is typically used to convey intense anger, rage or hate.
Happy and Party Emojis
What emojis should you use when you want to express happiness or show celebration? These are some of the best happy and party emojis.
Emoji: 😀
Name: Grinning Face
Meaning: A smiling face that shows cheerfulness and joy associated with something positive.
Emoji: 🎉
Name: Party Popper
Meaning: This is a party emoji that conveys happiness, a party atmosphere and celebration.
Emoji: 💯
Name: Hundred Points
Meaning: This emoji expresses success, achievement, and joy.
Emoji: 😊
Name: Smiling Face with Smiling Eyes
Meaning: A smiling face that shows happiness and contentment.
Emoji: 🙌
Name: Raising Hands
Meaning: The raising hands emoji is used to express praise and excitement.
Cool Emojis
There are numerous cool emojis that are popular both in social media and text messaging. Let’s look at at the top coolest emojis.
Emoji: ✨
Name: Sparkles
Meaning: This is a glittering emoji with flashes of sparkles that is commonly used to express positive sentiments such as beauty, happiness or gratitude.
Emoji: 🔥
Name: Fire
Meaning: This bright flame emoji is used to say something is hot, lit or awesome.
Emoji: 💪
Name: Flexed Biceps
Meaning: This emoji represents strength, success or working out.
Emoji: 🙏
Name: Folded Hands
Meaning: The folded hands emoji means please, thank you and is sometimes used to show a high five.
Emoji: 👍
Name: Thumbs Up
Meaning: The classic thumbs-up emoji is used to convey that everything is all good or to say yes.
Pet Emojis
Wondering what emojis you should use when you’re talking about your pets? There are many emojis to express all different kinds of pets.
Emoji: 🐕
Name: Dog
Meaning: A faithful and beloved brown dog walking.
Emoji: 🐈
Name: Cat
Meaning: A light orange tabby cat walking with head and tail upright.
Emoji: 🐇
Name: Rabbit
Meaning: A white bunny in full profile with pink ears and a short tail.
Emoji: 🐎
Name: Horse
Meaning: A brown horse that’s used for riding and racing.
Emoji: 🐢
Name: Turtle
Meaning: A green turtle on all fours with a textured shell and long neck.
Nature Emojis
What emojis should you use when you’re expressing nature and your surroundings? Here are some of the most popular nature emojis and their meanings.
Emoji: 🌸
Name: Cherry Blossom
Meaning: The bright pink flower of a cherry blossom tree.
Emoji: 🍄
Name: Mushroom
Meaning: A white spotted red cap singular mushroom.
Emoji: 🦋
Name: Butterfly
Meaning: A light blue butterfly with wings outstretched.
Emoji: ☀️
Name: Sun
Meaning: The sun brightly shining in all yellow.
Emoji: 🌕
Name: Full Moon
Meaning: A full moon, gold, completely illuminated.
