thumbs down: medium-dark skin tone
Unicode: 1F44E 1F3FE
Description
A hand emoji showing the back of an open hand with thumb and fingers spread out, often used to express rejection, disapproval, or disagreement. This particular emoji features a medium-dark skin tone.
Group:
People & Body > hand-fingers-closed
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Commonly expresses dislike, disapproval, rejection, 'boo,' or a general sense of being unimpressed. It can also be used playfully to tease or say 'no way.'
Backstory
The 'Thumbs Down' or 'Disapproval' emoji (👎) itself was introduced in Unicode 6.0 (2010). The addition of skin tone modifiers (like '1F3FE' for medium-dark skin tone) came with Unicode 8.0 (2015), allowing users to personalize the emoji to their skin color, making it more inclusive.
Usage Examples
- Expressing disapproval: 'That idea is a big 👎🏾'
- Reacting negatively to something: 'The ending of that movie was 👎🏾'
- Playful teasing/disagreement: 'You think so? 👎🏾'
- Showing a lack of enthusiasm: 'Meeting canceled? 👎🏾'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Frequently used to 'boo' something, signal disappointment, or express a strong negative reaction, similar to a thumbs-down. Can also be a playful retort.
East Asian culture:
Similar negative connotations, though its use might be less common than other 'no' gestures. It generally conveys disapproval or a lack of appreciation.