🥶 shows a face turned blue with cold, teeth clenched and frost on its skin. It was added in Unicode 11.0 in 2018, paired with 🥵 (hot face), and its official name is “cold face.” The main use is plain: it’s freezing. A newer, more slangy use turns the same face into a compliment or a shrug at ruthless behaviour.
How it’s used
- Weather: “Wind chill is minus ten out there 🥶”
- Office air conditioning: “The AC is set to Arctic again 🥶”
- Getting out of bed: “The heating broke overnight and I can see my breath 🥶”
- Icy style: “New chain just dropped 🥶” (jewellery that “ice”s the wearer)
- Cold-blooded play: “That last-second shot was ice cold 🥶”
When the temperature is the topic, 🥶 and 🥵 often arrive in pairs as a weather complaint (“hot in the car, freezing inside the shop 🥵🥶”). It’s less panicked than 😨 (fearful face) and more physical than 😬 (grimacing face).
Korea, Japan and the English-speaking world
In English, the literal “it’s freezing” reading is the baseline, but social media has widened it. “Ice cold” and “icy” are slang for stylish or flashy, especially around jewellery, so a 🥶 under an outfit photo can mean “you look cool.” It can also signal “cold-blooded” in sports or gaming, praising a ruthless play. Read the surrounding words before assuming the person is shivering.
In Korea the literal use dominates: cold snaps, air conditioning, a draughty street. There is also a figurative overlap with 싸늘하다 and “분위기가 얼었다” (the mood froze), so people use it after an awkward silence or a joke that fell flat. In that sense it is similar to 😅, but icier.
In Japan, 寒い means both “cold” and “lame,” as in 寒いギャグ (a joke that falls flat). The name 寒い顔 is as literal as it sounds, and the emoji can serve as a light “that was a bit chilly” remark on a bad pun, alongside the usual weather complaint.
Where it gets misread
- In English, 🥶 isn’t always about temperature. It can be praise for something ice-cool or ruthless, so check the context.
- It is not fear. 😨 and 😱 are shock and dread; 🥶 is a physical chill, though it can lightly suggest goosebumps.
- 🥵 (hot face) is its pair, but 🥵 sometimes picks up a flirtatious reading. 🥶 almost never does.
- If you send it to someone who is unwell, it can sound like “I have the chills.” Add a short explanation when talking about health.
Design differences by platform
The blue face, frost and chattering mouth are common across platforms. Apple’s face looks frosted with an exaggerated expression. Google’s Noto is simple and cute, Microsoft’s Fluent emphasises the blue tint and depth, and Samsung typically uses a vivid tone and a wide mouth. The shade of blue and the frost detail vary, so the cold comes through everywhere but not in exactly the same way.
