50 emoticons and their meanings

Very appreciated in the messages exchanged with our relatives, friends or even family, rare are the messages sent without emojis. But do you know the real meaning of each? We take stock of 50 emojis present on our smartphone keyboards.

small icons much appreciated. According the global study “Adobe Future of Creativity” made by Adobe and who surveyed 10,000 users including 1,000 French people, emojis have a very important place in our personal but also professional digital communication. Proof is, 74% of French people of this survey claim use emojis in a professional setting .

The word “emoji” comes from Japanese and combines two words from Japanese culture: “e” which means “an image” and “moji” which means “a letter”. In French, the exact translation of the word would be 'pictogram' , “emoticon” or even “smiley” which comes from English. Some of these pictograms would also be more popular than others. In France, top 5 most used icons ranks the laughing smiley first, followed by the heart-kissing smiley, the laughing-out-loud smiley, the winking smiley, and the thumbs-up smiley.

If we can note that emojis take an increasingly important place in our digital exchanges, who has never sent one of these small icons to his parents, his friends or even his colleagues, do we really know their real meaning ? To help you find your way around, we've rounded up the possible meanings and interpretations of 50 emoticons . Let's start without waiting for the explanations on these small 100% digital pictograms.

50 emoticons and their meanings

1 - Red Heart

Name: Heart

Meaning: The red heart denotes love and passion. We send it to his lover or his lover or to his relatives.

2 - Broken Red Heart

Name: Broken Heart

Message: The broken red heart means a breakup but also sadness.

3 - Orange Heart

Name: Orange Heart

Meaning: It is used to send positive energy to someone

Another interpretation: It can also be sent to signify that one prefers to remain friends with a suitor

4 - Yellow Heart

Name: Yellow Heart

Message: It designates happiness and friendship. We send it to a loved one to show them a dose of love

5 - Green Heart

Name: Green Heart

Meaning: It is used to represent the love of nature

Other interpretation: It can also be sent to someone to attempt reconciliation or to show jealousy

6 - Blue Heart

Name: Blue Heart

Message: It designates loyalty, trust and friendship. It can be sent to a very close friend

7 - Purple Heart

Name: Purple Heart

Meaning: It designates desire and sexual attraction

Another interpretation: He can also be sent to speak of honor and wealth

8 - White Heart

Name: White Heart

Message: It designates pure but platonic love

Another interpretation: It can also be used to mean that we are thinking of a deceased person

9 - Brown Heart

Name: Brown Heart

Meaning: It represents a heart covered in chocolate. We send it to a person who needs a light dose of love

10 - Black Heart

Name: Black Heart

Message: It designates black humor. It is used to indicate that it is a joke or that the remarks are ironic

Other interpretation: It can also be used to designate mourning or grief

11 - Two pink hearts

Name: Two Hearts

Meaning: It is sent to show mutual love towards the recipient. It can be sent to our best friend for example

12 - Two spinning pink hearts

Name: Spinning Hearts

Message: It denotes understanding. We send it to someone to try to apologize to him but also to support the need for love of his recipient

13 - Shiny Pink Heart

Name: Sparkling Heart

Meaning: It denotes happiness. It is sent as a sign of pride but also to announce good news

14 - Wrapped Pink Heart

Name: Heart with ribbon

Message: We send it to a person for whom we are devoted

Another interpretation: It can also designate a nice gesture

15 - Pink heart with an arrow

Name: Heart and Arrow

Meaning: It represents the fact that the person is falling in love with the other but also to say 'I love you' to his beloved

16 - Poop Emoji

Nom : Tas de caca

Message: With its eyes wide open and its happy face, the poo emoticon is used in a humorous way to lighten the tone of a discussion or simply to make fun of the subject discussed

Feature: So popular in recent years, it has its own cushion to decorate your home or apartment interior

17 - Smiley smile

Name: Smile Face

Meaning: The smiling face smiley signifies a friendly and sympathetic smile

Other interpretation: It can sometimes be interpreted as ironic, condescending and passive aggressive

18 - Tear-Eyed Smiley

Name: Smiley face with a tear

Message: It represents pride and is also used when you have just heard good news.

Feature: According to the World Emoji Awards, this smiley is the most popular in the whole face smiley list

19 - Smiley holding back tears

Name: Face holding back tears

Meaning: If it looks like the face emoticon holding back tears of joy, this one is more sad and insistent. It is sent to implore someone's help and forgiveness.

Another interpretation: It can also be sent to someone in an attempt to bribe them

20 - Smiley with cold sweats

Name: Face with a bead of sweat

Message: With its drop of water at the edge of the temple, this emoji is sent to say that the worst has been avoided

Another interpretation: It is also sent as a relief and to designate unease and misunderstanding in the discussion.

21 - Smiley laugh to tears

Name: MDR (laughing)

Meaning: We use it when we find something very funny

Characteristic: This is the emoji that was used the most between 2011 and 2021

22 - Smiley with a tear

Name: Crying face

Message: This face with the eyebrows turned down and the tear at the corner of one eye represents sadness. It presents itself as a form of sympathy following the announcement of sad news

23 - Smiley ange

Name: Angel face with a halo on the head

Meaning: It is used during good deeds with the behavior that goes with it

Other interpretation: It can also be used to seek to flirt with someone

24 - Smiley upside down

Name: Upside Down

Message: With its head down and upside-down smile, this emoticon represents irony. We use it to mean that we are living in a totally absurd situation.

25 - Wink Smiley

Name: Wink

Meaning: It is used to represent the playful, clever and affectionate spirit

Alternate Interpretation: Other people believe this emoticon represents suggestiveness or sarcasm

26 - Relieved Smiley

Name: Relieved Face

Message: With his face with closed eyes, downturned eyebrows and an open mouth, this emoticon represents relief

27 - Smileys that show their teeth

Meaning: These emoticons which represent faces with a toothy smile are synonymous with good humor and enthusiasm

28 - Smileys that show the tongue

Message: These tongue out emoticons are used to express a joke. They are used to lighten up a conversation

29 - Smiling face with heart-shaped eyes

Name: Heart-shaped smiley eyes

Meaning: It expresses enthusiasm and love towards someone or something

30 - Smiley with sunglasses

Nom : Emoji chill

Message: The face emoticon with the sunglasses and smile represents relaxation

Other interpretation: It also designates a casual and confident attitude.

31 - Smiley with glasses

Name: Geek Face

Meaning: This emoticon is often used to exchange ideas with its recipient

Other interpretation: It can also be used to tease and look for its interlocutor

32 - Winking smiley that sends a red heart

Name: Kissing Face

Message: This emoticon denotes flirting, love and wishing someone good night

33 - Smiley sourire in coin

Name: Face with a smirk

Meaning: This wink with the corner of the mouth has the message of flirting, rascality and sexy suggestions

34 - Discouraged Smiley

Name: Discouraged Emoji

Message: The use of this emoticon is to show irritation, skepticism, bad temper and sometimes even suppressed anger

35 - Drooling Smiley

Meaning: It represents sexual desire towards someone

Another interpretation: It can be used when you have a “craving” in front of delicious food or food that seems to be

36 - Smiley with neutral expression

Name: Expressionless Face

Message: This emoticon will indicate a feeling of discomfort and a need to digest unpleasant information

37 - Angry Smiley

Name : angry smiley

Meaning: It represents the nervousness of the sender at time T

38 - Eye Rolling Smiley

Message: With rolling eyes, this emoticon will indicate disapproval and sarcasm

39 - Smiley that blows its nose

Name: Sneezing face

Meaning: It is used to signify that one has a cold or that one has caught a virus

40 - Big-Eyed Smiley

Name: Blushing Face

Message: In an embarrassing situation, we use this expression. It also designates disbelief, surprise but also admiration.

41 - Grinding Smiley

Name: Grinning Face

Meaning: The expression of this emoji, which is actually an embarrassing grimace, will indicate nervousness and unease

42 - Disappointed Smiley

Message: It will indicate disappointment, fear and anxiety of a situation. The person who sends it to you shows you disappointed

43 - Puzzled smiley with cross or spiral eyes

Meaning: This puzzled face with crossed eyes and open mouth is used when you want to indicate confusion, even when you are on the verge of fainting following an announcement

44 - Smiley crying profusely

Message: This emoji is upset, very sad following some news

Another interpretation: It is sometimes used to say that we cry with laughter

45 - Face with zipper mouth

Nom : Emoji secret

Meaning: The smiley with the zipper mouth is keeping a secret

46 - Smiley who drowsy

Name: Sleepy Face

Message: The use of this emoji means that we are very tired, that we would like to sleep or that we will soon fall asleep

47 - The Devil with the Machiavellian Smile

Name: The Machiavellian smile

Meaning: This little purple devil with a mischievous smile is sent to mark disobedience. Some also use it for the exchange of naughty messages

48 - The imp

Name: Angry Devil

Message: Using this little devil with the mouth upside down means that we are not ready to laugh, that something is annoying us and therefore we must be careful when addressing us

49 - Clenched Fist

Meaning: The tight dot icon designates a “check” sent to his interlocutor, synonymous with complicity between the two people

Other interpretation: In some situations, it can be considered as a sign of threat

50 - The Red Triangular Flag

Name: Triangular Flag

Message: In everyday life, this red triangular flag is a marker of danger and a call for caution. It is found in complicated meteorological cases or in announcements of very important things

Another interpretation: If it is sent in the corpus of some messages, its numerical meaning will not be too different. Young women mainly use it to warn of uncomfortable, unpleasant or even dangerous situations.