ZZZ
Unicode: 1F4A4
Description
A cartoon-style snoring or sleep symbol, typically depicted as three 'Z's coming out of a speech bubble or directly from a face.
Group:
Smileys & Emotion > emotion
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Represents sleepiness, snoring, being asleep, or boredom/tiredness. Can also imply being overwhelmed or having literally 'slept' through something.
Backstory
This emoji, along with many others, was part of the original set adopted from Japanese carrier emoji sets (like those from SoftBank Mobile, DoCoMo, and au) into Unicode, eventually becoming part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010. The 'ZzZ' symbol itself is a well-established comic book and cartoon convention for indicating sleep.
Usage Examples
- Expressing tiredness: 'I'm so exhausted, ready for bed. 😴'
- Indicating sleep: 'He's been asleep for hours. 😴'
- Suggesting boredom: 'That meeting was so long, I almost 😴'
- Figurative sleep: 'He's completely 😴 on the job lately.'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Universally understood as snoring or sleep, often used humorously to express being tired or bored.
East Asian culture:
Similar meaning, frequently used in manga and anime to illustrate a character sleeping soundly or to show extreme boredom during a long conversation or lecture.