Emoji Meanings Dictionary

Emojis look simple, but they are packed with meaning. Some meanings are obvious. A heart means love. A smiley means happy. But others have layers that trip people up.

Take the upside-down face. On the surface, it is just a smile flipped over. But online, it has come to mean sarcasm, passive-aggression, or that awkward "this is fine but actually not fine" feeling. Context matters more than the official Unicode description.

The Unicode Consortium assigns every emoji an official name. "Face with Tears of Joy" is the crying-laughing emoji. "Slightly Smiling Face" is that polite but maybe passive-aggressive smile. These names help standardize emojis across platforms, but they do not capture how people actually use them.

Generational divides in emoji use are real. Younger users often see the thumbs-up emoji as dismissive or passive-aggressive, while older users see it as a simple positive acknowledgment. The skull emoji means "I am dead" (from laughter) to Gen Z but reads as morbid to others.

Cultural differences add another layer. A gesture that is friendly in one country can be offensive in another. The "OK hand" symbol, clapping hands, and folded hands all carry different weight depending on where your audience is from.

This dictionary shows you the official names and common interpretations. But remember: meaning depends on who is sending, who is receiving, and what came before in the conversation.