leafless tree
Unicode: 1FABE
Description
A brown, circular emoji with a slightly lopsided, wavy top resembling a melting or collapsing object, typically used to represent something melting or dissolving.
Group:
Animals & Nature > plant-other
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Can convey feelings of embarrassment, awkwardness, 'melting' due to cuteness or flattery, or simply a literal melting of something.
Backstory
This emoji was introduced in Unicode 14.0 (2021) as part of a trend to include more whimsical and context-specific emojis. Its primary inspiration seems to be the visual representation of something literally melting, but it quickly adopted metaphorical uses.
Usage Examples
- Feeling embarrassed: 'I just tripped in front of everyone, I'm melting! 🫠'
- Overwhelmed by cuteness: 'That kitten is so cute, I'm melting! 🫠'
- Feeling overwhelmed or stressed: 'This week is making me melt. 🫠'
- Literal melting: 'The ice cream is melting in the sun. 🫠'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Often used informally to show embarrassment, feeling overwhelmed by cuteness, or a general sense of 'melting down' from a situation.
East Asian culture:
Similar usage, sometimes applied playfully when something is so cute it makes one 'melt' or when expressing a 'facepalm' type of embarrassment.