person facepalming
Unicode: 1F926
Description
A person with hand over face, depicted as a yellow cartoon-like face partially covered by one hand, often interpreted as embarrassment, shame, or annoyance.
Group:
People & Body > person-gesture
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Typically represents embarrassment, shame, facepalming (as in 'I can't believe this'), exasperation, frustration, or dismay.
Backstory
This emoji was introduced in Unicode 9.0 (2016) as 'Face with hand over mouth' but is widely understood and used as 'Facepalming'. It quickly gained popularity as a visual shorthand for the common internet meme and gesture of facepalming, which conveys a sense of exasperated disbelief or embarrassment.
Usage Examples
- Reacting to a bad pun: 'I can't even... 🤦'
- Expressing embarrassment for someone: 'Did they really just say that? 🤦'
- Showing frustration with a situation: 'The Wi-Fi is down again. 🤦'
- Acknowledging a silly mistake: 'I forgot my keys. Classic me. 🤦'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Widely used to express dismay or disbelief at something foolish, to show embarrassment for oneself or others, or simple frustration with a situation.
East Asian culture:
Similar usage, often conveying a sense of 'oh no' or 'how could they?' when something awkward or unbelievable happens. Can also imply 'I want to hide' due to embarrassment.