heart hands
Unicode: 1FAF6
Description
A yellow circular face with a slightly open mouth, showing teeth, and hands covering the cheeks, looking as if holding back laughter or surprise.
Group:
People & Body > hands
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Typically represents suppressed laughter, embarrassment, shyness, or a 'holding back a giggle' expression. It can also convey slight amusement or an 'oops' moment.
Backstory
This emoji was introduced in Unicode 14.0 (2021) as part of a significant update to emoji set, reflecting new common digital communication expressions. It quickly became popular for its versatile use in conveying nuanced emotions related to suppressed amusement or shyness.
Usage Examples
- Reacting to a funny joke: 'That's hilarious! 🤭'
- Expressing embarrassment: 'Oh no, I totally forgot! 🤭'
- When holding back laughter: 'I almost burst out laughing just now 🤭'
- A playful or shy admission: 'Maybe I did sneak a cookie... 🤭'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Commonly used to express mild amusement, a 'tee-hee' moment, or suppressed mirth. Can sometimes indicate shyness or blushing.
East Asian culture:
Often used to convey bashfulness, shyness, or a polite reaction to flattery/embarrassment, similar to covering one's mouth when giggling.