π Broken Heart emoji
[broh-kuh n hahrt ih-moh-jee]
What does π Broken Heart emoji mean?
What becomes of the broken hearted? One thingβs for sure: they use the broken heart emoji.
In texts and on social media, the emoji is used to express grief after a breakup, loss, or other setbacks. While often sincere, its tone can also be more playful, over-exaggerating a frustration or fawning over a crush.
Related words:
- π beating heart emoji
- π loudly crying face emoji
- π© weary face emoji
Where does π Broken Heart emoji come from?
English speakers have been using the term broken heart as a figure of extreme sadness or despair, particularly resulting from romantic failures, since the early 1500s. Itβs only fitting that this vivid metaphor would make its way into emoji form under Unicode 6.0 in 2010.
Across platforms, the broken heart emoji appears as a red or pink heart with a jagged crack down its center, as the screenshot from Emojipedia shows below. The styling of the broken heart emojiis based on the vendorβs other heart emoji.

Examples of π Broken Heart emoji
I canβt stop thinking about #AnthonyBourdian - So heartbroken - I looked up to him so much ππ’
Jungkooki cuteππand sexyπ±π·π·πππ...OMG π±π±π±π·π·π·π·πππππππI am so sorry fansππ
The good guys donβt always come out on topπ / My π for @_GDortch. I remember the hit & he still came back in. / #selfless #getwell #VAstandup
Who uses π Broken Heart emoji?
Online, use of the broken heart emoji spikes around sad news, discussions of depression or heart disease, the release of popular media dealing with romantic breakups, and, of course, personal matters of love and loss.
When a beloved celebrity dies, social media is flooded with the broken heart emoji as users express their grief.
A sad week in music for everyone who loved Prince. π We look at the music news in pics: https://t.co/TZe8xQYrja pic.twitter.com/FayqyfFTji
β Official Charts (@officialcharts) April 24, 2016
Itβs not always that serious, though, as the broken heart emoji can be more hyperbolic, expressing a kind of ironic longing.
I just want Chick-fil-A πππ
β kennedy marie (@Kmbandy321) June 29, 2016
Itβs not uncommon to see users actually replace the phrases heartbreak, heart breaks, or a broken heart with the broken heart emoji.
Debbie Reynolds died the day after Carrie Fisher. I absolutely think itβs π.
β Just1person (@ShariGoldfinge1) April 23, 2018
A parting tidbit for you: A 2016 emoji analysis revealed that the broken heart emoji appeared in French language posts four times more often than in other languages. Cβest la vie.
NOTE
This is not meant to be a formal definition of π Broken Heart emoji like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of π Broken Heart emoji that will help our users expand their word mastery.