Emoji dictionary

😨 Fearful Face emoji

[feer-fuhl feys ih-moh-jee]

What does 😨 Fearful Face emoji mean?  

The fearful face emoji expresses a blend of surprise and fear, in equal parts.

It’s used in response to a revelation, some not-so-great news, or to something (or someone) that just might cause unhappiness or a challenge.

Related words

😕 Confused Face emoji, 😬 Grimacing Face emoji, 😲 Astonished Face emoji, 🤮 Face Vomiting emoji, 😩 Weary Face emoji

Where does 😨 Fearful Face emoji come from?

Eyes wide open, raised eyebrows, mouth agape or in a classic frown: the fearful face emoji was approved as part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010 and added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015.

Sometimes referred to as the worried face emoji, it is also used to express concern and angst. It’s not exactly “The Scream,” so no need to panic: there is a glimmer of hope, a possible way out. The blue shading at the top is used to represent a pale face … as in so shocked you lost your color.

Maybe it’s the teeth, but the HTC version of this emoji is particularly unsettling in our opinion, as this chart from Emojipedia shows.

Examples of 😨 Fearful Face emoji

Remember to vote daily or get bad luck for 25 years 😨😱
@kissycamila, August, 2018
You wanna know what’s scary, I have that interview today. Exactly a year later 😨
@GQWill_, August, 2018
Well that was crazy! Just look at that #Gamescom2018 crowd... 😨
@505_Games, August, 2018
SEE MORE EXAMPLES

Who uses 😨 Fearful Face emoji?

The fearful face emoji is used when fear is a present, but not paralyzing. It usually represents when someone is caught off guard, caught by surprise, or colored by uncertainty and doubt. When straight-up fear is the driver, it’s often used with the screaming face emoji.

Sometimes, it’s used for dramatic effect: when there isn’t really a lot of nail-biting going on at all.

And, don’t we all have a little social-media anxiety sometimes?

Just Added

gorpcore, sleep divorce, masculine energy, anti-bride, March Madness

Note

This is not meant to be a formal definition of 😨 Fearful Face 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 😨 Fearful Face emoji that will help our users expand their word mastery.