man facepalming
Unicode: 1F926 200D 2642 FE0F
Description
A person, specifically a man, with a hand over their face, often indicating embarrassment, disbelief, exasperation, or facepalming.
Group:
People & Body > person-gesture
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Typically represents emotions like embarrassment, shame, frustration, exasperation, disbelief, or general 'can't believe this' sentiment. It's often used when encountering something foolish, annoying, or absurd.
Backstory
The base 'Face with Hand Over Mouth' emoji (1F926) was approved as part of Unicode 9.0 in 2016. The specific male version (1F926 200D 2642 FE0F) is created by combining the 'face with hand over mouth' emoji with the 'male sign' and a Zero Width Joiner (ZWJ), allowing for gender variations of the base emoji. The gesture itself is a common non-verbal cue for embarrassment or disbelief.
Usage Examples
- Reacting to a bad joke: '😂😂🤦♂️'
- Expressing disbelief at someone's actions: 'You seriously did that? 🤦♂️'
- Feeling embarrassed for someone: 'That's so awkward, 🤦♂️'
- Showing exasperation: 'I give up, 🤦♂️'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Widely understood as 'facepalm' or '🤦♂️', conveying a sense of 'oh my god, really?' or 'I can't even'.
East Asian culture:
Similar meaning, often used to express exasperation at silly actions or statements, sometimes with a nuance of mild scolding or 'how could you?'