Emoji dictionary
💭 Thought Balloon emoji
[thawt buh-loon ih-moh-jee]
What does 💭 Thought Balloon emoji mean?
Something on your mind? There’s an emoji for that.
The thought balloon emoji means you are thinking through something, as in trying to make a decision or come up with what to say next.
It also could mean you have a lot on your mind or are lost in your thoughts. Randomly, it is also sometimes used to represent a cloud in the sky. OK then.
Where does 💭 Thought Balloon emoji come from?
![](https://www.dictionary.com/e/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/thought-bubble-300x158.jpg)
The origin of the thought ballon is ancient.
However the designer of the thought balloon emoji probably had something a little more contemporary in mind. Thought bubbles are seen throughout modern comic strips to indicate to a reader they are reading a character’s unvoiced thoughts, like in Charles M. Schultz’ classic Snoopy, which debuted in 1950.
![](https://www.dictionary.com/e/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/thought-bubble.gif)
Snoopy comic strips
The thought balloon emoji was added to the Unicode 6.0 in 2010 and Emoji 1.0 in 2015. It shows a line of little puffy clouds leading up on a big puffy cloud. On most devices and platform it’s white, except for Twitter, where it is blue. Apple’s use of three-dimensional shading makes it looks a little like a storm cloud.
![](https://www.dictionary.com/e/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Screen-Shot-2018-11-27-at-1.41.30-PM.png)
Emojipedia
Examples of 💭 Thought Balloon emoji
Who uses 💭 Thought Balloon emoji?
The thought balloon emoji is used by anyone who needs to take a moment to think before they speak, which is—or at least should be—everyone.
In texting, you can add a light bulb to the thought balloon emoji to show that you have a great idea or use it with the thinking face emoji to indicate you are trying to make a decision.
On social media, people use it to indicate they are stressed out because they have a lot on their mind. They also use it to celebrate their ideas or ask for ideas from others.
💭💭💭ideas? House show??? pic.twitter.com/BahOFeh96s
— @tomkrell (@HowToDressWell) November 16, 2018
Use it when you are asking a question to let people know you want to hear their thoughts … because we want to hear their thoughts, right?
It also is used by people who have dreams and wishes.
I wish your dreams come truth 💜💭
— Fr4ses👑 (@StarFr4ases) November 12, 2018
Folks who don’t know about the whole range of weather-related emoji will reach for this one to talk about bad weather … it’s like a little thought storm cloud.
When you realize only a few more hours stand between you, yummy food and a relaxing break… 🥧💭 pic.twitter.com/aZp3urF0DU
— Cornell University (@Cornell) November 20, 2018
Smokers also use this emoji to puff proudly.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of 💭 Thought Balloon 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 💭 Thought Balloon emoji that will help our users expand their word mastery.