Laughing emoji
Copy the laughing emoji you actually mean: tears of joy 😂, rolling on the floor 🤣, a squinting grin 😆 or the cat 😹, and see which one fits the joke.
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The main laughing emoji and how they differ
😂 (face with tears of joy) is the standard “that’s funny” reaction and one of the most used emoji in the world; Oxford Dictionaries even chose it as its Word of the Year in 2015. 🤣 (rolling on the floor laughing) is the louder version, tilted over with tears flying. 😆 (grinning squinting face) is a big laugh without the tears, often used for “ha, nice one”. 😹 is the cat version, which sits in a small family of cat faces used for silliness.
The joke about 😂 being “old” has some truth. Many younger users switched to 💀 (“I’m dead”) or 😭 for something hilarious, and treat 😂 as slightly formal. None of that makes 😂 wrong; it is still the clearest way to say you laughed.
Compare the options
| Emoji | Name | Use it for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| face with tears of joyU+1F602 | The default laugh; clear to everyone | Some readers find it dated | |
| rolling on the floor laughingU+1F923 | Uncontrollable laughter | Can look over the top for a mild joke | |
| grinning squinting faceU+1F606 | A hearty, tears-free laugh; also excitement | Sometimes read as nervous laughter | |
| cat with tears of joyU+1F639 | Silly, cat-themed laughter | Rare; not every app shows the cat family well | |
| loudly crying faceU+1F62D | “I’m crying” at something funny | Doubles as sadness; see the crying emoji guide |
Funny emoji beyond the laughing faces
Searches for “funny emoji” usually want a reaction that says this is funny rather than a joke emoji. These are the ones people reach for most, in roughly increasing intensity.
💀 (skull) reads as “dead from laughing” in casual chat, while 🤡 (clown face) is mocking rather than amused, so use it only where the teasing is obviously friendly.
Text faces you can copy
Plain-character faces that paste anywhere. Tap one to copy.
- big laugh
- giggling
- laughing out loud
- chuckle
- delighted
- happy laugh
The lol emoji, haha and other ways to say you laughed
The lol emoji is usually 😂. It is the standard laughing face, and in most chats a single 😂 stands in for lol, haha or “that’s hilarious”. For a softer lol, many people use 😆, which feels like a big grin without crying. 🤣 is the louder, tilted version.
There is no single point and laugh emoji. To get that effect, combine 🫵 (index pointing at the viewer) with 😂, as in 🫵😂. The text version XD works as a laughing smiley in plain text. For stronger reactions, 💀 or 😭 can mean cracking up, hysterical or dead from laughter.
The laughing emoji as a meme
😂 is commonly used in memes, often paired with short captions or used as a reaction image. A distorted laughing emoji is usually a stretched or low-resolution 😂 saved as an image, which adds an ironic, chaotic feel. The laughing crying emoji meme is usually a picture of 😂 with a caption, not a different symbol.
There is no official blue laughing emoji; standard versions of 😂 are yellow across platforms, with minor differences in style. The 😂 meme format often relies on repetition, as in “😂😂😂” after something ridiculous, or on pairing the face with a screenshot. On social media, it appears in captions and comments as shorthand for a big laugh.
How the laughing emoji is used on apps and in memes
The laughing faces 😂, 🤣 and 😆 have the same meaning across apps and devices. You’ll usually find them in the smiley section of your keyboard, and you can copy any emoji from this page and paste it into WhatsApp, TikTok comments, Facebook posts, or any other app that supports standard emoji. Some people pair 😂 with 💀 to show something is extra funny. On Facebook, the “haha” reaction isn’t the same as the 😂 emoji, so if you want the real one you’ll need to paste it or use the emoji keyboard.
When something is so funny it makes you cry with laughter, 😂 or 🤣 are the clearest emoji to use. That feeling often appears in memes, captioned with phrases like “laughing till I cry”. If you’re genuinely laughing till you cry, the crying faces fit best.
For a gentler reaction, 😆 works well for a lighter chuckle, and 🤭 suits a quiet or mischievous laugh.
Android and TikTok laughing emoji
On Android, 😂 appears in Google’s Noto Emoji style: a yellow face with a broad open-mouthed smile, big tears streaming from both eyes, and eyebrows raised high. The wide mouth and tear drops make the laughter easy to read even at small sizes in comment threads.
On TikTok, the laughing emoji shows up constantly in comments and captions, often stacked several times (😂😂😂) for emphasis. TikTok users pair it with other reaction emojis like 💀 and 😭, and it appears in the app’s sticker and comment tools.
Chat examples
Real messages with 😂, and a reply that fits.
he called the teacher “mum” in front of everyone 😂
😂😂 poor kid
I just walked into a glass door 🤣
please tell me someone filmed it
the cat fell asleep in the salad bowl 😆
send pic immediately
Questions people ask
Which laughing emoji is the strongest?
🤣 is the most intense of the standard faces. In slang, 💀 and 😭 are used the same way and are often read as stronger than 😂.
Is 😂 a crying emoji?
No. Its Unicode name is face with tears of joy and it always means laughter. The crying faces are 😭 and 😢.
Why do people say 😂 is for old people?
It became so common after 2015 that some younger users treat it as a default and prefer 💀 or 😭. It is a style choice, not a rule.
What is the happy tears emoji?
The happy tears emoji is another name for 😂, the face with tears of joy. It means laughing so hard you are crying with joy, not sadness. People also call it the happy crying emoji.
Is there a laughing emoji with eyes open?
No standard laughing face has open eyes. 😂, 🤣 and 😆 all show closed or squinting eyes. The closest open-eyed reaction is 😄 grinning face with smiling eyes.
Why does the laughing emoji look different on different devices?
Each platform uses its own emoji set, so 😂 can look slightly different, but the core elements—yellow face, open mouth, tears—remain the same.
Is there a point and laugh emoji?
No, there’s no single emoji for pointing and laughing. People usually combine 👉 with 😂 or 🤣, like 👉😂, to show they’re calling out something funny.
What is the laughing smiley emoji?
Laughing smiley can mean any smiley that’s grinning, but most people use it for 😂 (face with tears of joy) or 😆 (grinning squinting face) when they want to show laughter.
Is there a fake laugh emoji?
There’s no dedicated fake laugh emoji, but 😅 (grinning face with sweat) and 😬 (grimacing face) are often used to show awkward or polite laughter.
What is the laughing crying emoji meme?
The laughing crying emoji meme refers to the 😂 face used as a reaction image or in text overlaid on funny photos, usually captioned with phrases like “laughing so hard I’m crying” or “cry laughing”.
What is the hilarious emoji?
There is no single emoji officially named “hilarious”, but 😂, 🤣, and 💀 are the usual choices when someone wants to say something is extremely funny. The rolling on the floor laughing emoji 🤣 is the most intense of the standard laughing faces.
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.
