thumbs down: light skin tone
Unicode: 1F44E 1F3FB
Description
A hand with its palm facing outwards and thumb pointing downwards, indicating disapproval or rejection. The hand has a light skin tone.
Group:
People & Body > hand-fingers-closed
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Typically represents disapproval, dislike, rejection, failure, or a negative response.
Backstory
The 'thumbs down' gesture has ancient origins, famously associated with Roman gladiatorial games where it was used to signal death or grace for a combatant. In modern digital communication, it's a common symbol of negativity or dislike. The skin tone modifiers (like 1F3FB for light skin tone) were added to Unicode in 2015 to allow for more diverse representation.
Usage Examples
- Expressing dislike for content: 'This movie was terrible. 👎🏻'
- Indicating disapproval: 'I don't agree with that idea. 👎🏻'
- Symbolizing failure: 'The project was a complete 👎🏻.'
- Negative reaction: 'My day went completely 👎🏻.'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Widely understood as a sign of disapproval, similar to 'thumbs down'. Often used to signify 'no' or 'bad'.
East Asian culture:
Generally understood the same way as disapproval, but less commonly used than in Western contexts and sometimes considered rude in formal settings.