hushed face
Unicode: 1F62F
Description
A yellow face with raised eyebrows, a small, closed mouth, and wide, staring eyes, conveying a sense of shock, surprise, or disbelief.
Group:
Smileys & Emotion > face-concerned
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Typically represents shock, surprise, disbelief, astonishment, or a momentary freeze due to an unexpected event. Can also show a mild sense of being overwhelmed.
Backstory
This emoji was introduced in Unicode 6.0 (2010) as part of a wider set of facial expressions to convey various human emotions. It has become a standard way to digitally express an unexpected or startling reaction, reminiscent of a 'staring blankly' or 'mouth agape' expression without the mouth being open.
Usage Examples
- Receiving unexpected news: 'Wait, what? 😮'
- Seeing something surprising: 'Did that just happen? 😮'
- Expressing disbelief: 'You're telling me you finished it all? 😮'
- Mildly overwhelmed: 'So much information to process! 😮'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Commonly used to express a genuine reaction of surprise or mild shock, often in response to news or an unexpected situation.
East Asian culture:
Similar usage, but sometimes used to exaggerate a 'deer in headlights' feeling or to playfully convey being caught off guard.