🔕
bell with slash
Unicode: 1F515
Description
A bell with a diagonal line through it, indicating that notifications or sounds are turned off.
Group:
Objects > sound
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Represents silence, muting, or the absence of alerts. Often used to signify discretion or quiet.
Backstory
This emoji was introduced in Unicode 6.0 (2010). Bells have long been used as signals or alerts, and the diagonal line is a common symbol across many cultures to indicate 'no' or 'forbidden' when applied to an icon. This combination effectively communicates the 'silent' or 'notifications off' state.
Usage Examples
- Setting phone to silent: 'Going into a meeting, putting my phone on silent 🔕'
- Indicating a need for quiet: 'Please keep quiet in the library 🔕'
- Turning off notifications: 'No notifications tonight, just peace and quiet 🔕'
- Requesting discretion: 'Keep this private, okay? 🔕'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Universally understood as 'mute' or 'silent notifications'.
East Asian culture:
Same general meaning; also used in public spaces to indicate a need for quiet (e.g., in libraries or during performances).