Crying emoji
Copy the loudly crying face 😭 and its quieter relatives, and see which one fits: heartbreak, laughing until you cry, or a single tear.
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Which crying emoji says what
The emoji most people mean by “crying emoji” or “sob emoji” is 😭, the loudly crying face: two rivers of tears and an open mouth. Its meaning has drifted. It still works for real sadness, but online it is at least as often used for being overwhelmed by something funny, cute or dramatic, in the same way people say “I’m crying” about a joke.
😢 (crying face) is the gentle version: one tear, closed mouth, genuine sadness or sympathy. 🥲 (smiling face with tear) mixes relief, gratitude or bittersweet feelings. 🥹 (face holding back tears) is the one for being touched, proud or about to cry from happiness.
Compare the options
| Emoji | Name | Use it for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| loudly crying faceU+1F62D | Intense sadness, or laughing / dying over something | Tone depends on context; it can be either | |
| crying faceU+1F622 | Quiet sadness, sympathy, “that’s so sad” | Rarely used for jokes | |
| smiling face with tearU+1F972 | Bittersweet, relieved, “happy but a little sad” | Newer emoji; may not render on old devices | |
| face holding back tearsU+1F979 | Touched, grateful, proud, “I can’t handle this” | Newer emoji; check the version in the table | |
| face with tears of joyU+1F602 | Laughing hard | Not a crying emoji; see the laughing emoji guide |
🥹 has its own holding back tears guide, 🥲 the smiling face with tear guide, and the cat version 😿 the crying cat page.
When to use 😭 and when to soften it
- Reacting to something funny in a group chat: 😭 on its own, or stacked 😭😭😭, is read as “this is hilarious”.
- Actual bad news: 😢 or words. A loudly crying face can look like you are performing the emotion.
- Comforting someone: 🥹 or ❤️ often lands better than any crying face. The sad emoji guide covers the calmer faces.
- Missing someone: 😭 is common and reads as warm exaggeration (“miss you so much 😭”).
Text faces you can copy
Plain-character faces that paste anywhere. Tap one to copy.
- crying
- tears
- sobbing
- ugly cry
- wailing
- sniffle
The crying emoji as a meme
😭 is one of the most common meme reactions, used to signal that something is so absurd it makes you cry with laughter. The crying emoji meme often shows up as a reply to jokes, fails, or anything too dramatic to process. On Twitter and TikTok, Gen Z especially uses 😭 to mean “this is hilarious” rather than actual sadness, often stacking several 😭😭😭 or pairing it with 💀 to mean you’re dying of laughter.
The exaggerated crying emoji is the whole point: its flood of tears and open mouth makes anything look like an over-the-top wail, which is why it works for comedy. The same expression is central to the reaction images and hand-drawn memes built around 😭.
Blue, yellow, and other crying emoji styles
The standard crying emoji are yellow, but people sometimes recreate them in blue or other colours as custom images or stickers. A blue crying emoji is not part of the official emoji set, but you’ll see it in fan art, memes, or platform-specific packs. 3D versions and other stylised takes are also fan creations, not separate Unicode characters.
The sad crying emoji is usually 😢, the quieter single-tear face, and 🥹 is the face holding back tears, for moments when tears are just forming. There is no separate tear drop emoji; the droplet 💧 is sometimes used to represent a tear, but the crying faces already include their own tears.
Other names for the crying emoji
Beyond the official loudly crying face, 😭 is known by several informal names. It is often called the weeping emoji or loud crying emoji, and in some meme circles it is the wah emoji, echoing the sound of exaggerated sobbing. Sad crying emoji and crying sad emoji both point to this same face or to the quieter 😢, depending on the tone. Spanish speakers sometimes use “emoji triste” or “emoji llorando” for the same set of sad faces.
Chat examples
Real messages with 😭, and a reply that fits.
my flight got cancelled and the next one is tomorrow 😭
nooo 😭 want me to come get you?
the dog learned to open the fridge 😭😭
he is smarter than both of us
last episode ever 😢
I’m not ready either
Questions people ask
What is the difference between 😭 and 😢?
😭 has streaming tears and an open mouth and is used for big feelings, funny or sad. 😢 has a single tear and a closed mouth and is almost always sincere sadness.
Is there a “sob emoji”?
“Sob” is a nickname, not a Unicode name. People mean 😭, whose official name is loudly crying face.
Why does my crying emoji show as a box?
🥲 and 🥹 are newer additions. A device that has not updated its emoji font shows a blank box or a question mark. The older 😭 and 😢 display everywhere.
What does 😭💀 mean?
On social media, 😭💀 means something is so funny or overwhelming that you’re “dead” from laughter. 💀 is shorthand for “I’m dying”, and 😭 adds the tears of laughter. Together they signal that something is hilariously absurd.
Is there a crying emoji with hands up?
There is no single emoji of a crying face with its hands up. To express that idea, people combine 😭 with 🙌 or 🤲, or use the person raising hands emoji 🙋 together with a crying face.
Is there a crying baby emoji?
There is no dedicated crying baby emoji in the standard set. The baby emoji 👶 is the closest, and pairing it with 😭 or 😢 can show a crying baby. The loudly crying face itself is often used to represent baby-like wailing.
Why does the crying emoji look different on Android?
Each platform draws emojis in its own style. Android has changed its crying faces over the years, so 😭 may appear with thick or thin tears depending on your version. The meaning stays the same across Android, iPhone, Facebook, and TikTok.
What is the saddest crying emoji?
😢 shows a single tear and a closed mouth, which reads as quiet sadness. 😭 shows streaming tears and an open mouth, and is also commonly used for being overwhelmed by something funny or dramatic.
What is the loudly crying face emoji?
😭 is the loudly crying face emoji. It shows two streaming tears and an open mouth.
Which emoji shows watering eyes?
😢, 😭, and 🥹 all show tears in or near the eyes, but with different intensity: 😢 has one tear, 😭 has streaming tears, and 🥹 holds back tears. The tear drop emoji 💧 is separate and can be used to add extra tears.
How is the crying emoji used on TikTok?
On TikTok, 😭 is commonly used to react to something funny or moving, sometimes paired with 💀 to mean 'I'm laughing so hard I'm crying.' It can also express sincere sadness.
Is there a tear drop emoji?
There is no standalone tear drop emoji. The droplet emoji 💧 represents a water drop, but when people ask for a “tear drop emoji” they usually mean one of the crying faces on this page, like 😢 or 😭, whose tears are drawn as drops.
What does the crying emoji look like on iPhone?
On iPhone, 😭 has bright blue tear streams and a wide open mouth, matching Apple's glossy emoji style. The older 😢 and 😭 appear consistently across iPhone models, while newer faces like 🥲 and 🥹 may show as boxes until the iOS is updated.
About this guide
Written and maintained by the Emoji Directory editorial team, without ads or sponsorship. Meanings describe how the emoji is commonly used in public posts and messages, not an official definition. Names, code points, versions, keywords and translations come from the Unicode Emoji 18.0 and CLDR data; shortcodes from the gemoji project. Last reviewed . Spotted a mistake or a new usage? Tell us, or read how the directory is made.
