😘 is a face with one eye closed, lips puckered, and a small heart floating away from the mouth. The heart is the giveaway, so people call it the kissy face or blowing-a-kiss emoji, and it is the most used of the kiss-shaped faces. It dates back to the earliest smartphone emoji sets. It started as a lovers’ emoji, but today it also closes out “thanks,” “goodnight” and “miss you” as an affectionate full stop. Because there are lips involved, though, its temperature swings hard depending on who is sending it to whom.
How it’s used
- Partners: “night, see you tomorrow 😘”
- Family: a daughter to her mom, “thanks for the care package 😘”
- Close friends (mostly between women): “today was so fun, let’s do it again 😘”
- Exaggerated gratitude: “you covered my shift? love you 😘”
- Fandom: “you’re perfect 😘😘” under a celebrity’s post
Among the kiss faces, 😗 (kissing face) has no heart and reads more as whistling or playing innocent, and 😚 (kissing face with closed eyes) is shyer. With its wink, 😘 is the most forward of the three.
Korea, Japan and the English-speaking world
In English it is the lightest of the three cultures. Moms, aunts and friends end messages with 😘 the way they once wrote “xoxo,” and it regularly tops lists of emoji favored by middle-aged women. Between partners it clusters with 😍 and ❤️, and on dating apps it is an unmistakable signal of interest. From a coworker, though, it is widely seen as crossing a line.
In Korea it appears most often between female friends and between mothers and daughters. Men rarely send it to other men, and a man sending it to a woman he isn’t dating tends to come across as making a move. It is almost absent from work chat, and when it does show up it is between close female colleagues (“thanks 😘”). It pairs naturally with cutesy Korean sound words like 쪽 (“smooch”).
In Japan it is 投げキッス (thrown kiss), and its notable role is as a hallmark of ojisan kōbun, the much-mocked texting style of middle-aged men writing to younger women: “Good work today 😘 don’t push yourself 💕.” Because of that stereotype, younger Japanese users find 😘 a bit greasy. Between women or between partners it is still natural, but the gap by age and gender is the widest of the three cultures.
Where it gets misread
- In a work relationship, especially with someone of the opposite sex, skip it in every culture. For thanks, 🙏 or 😊 is safe.
- 😙 (kissing face with smiling eyes) and 😗 lack the heart and are often read as whistling or feigning innocence rather than affection. To actually blow a kiss, use 😘.
- 💋 (kiss mark) is lips without a face and feels far more adult. For family or friends, 😘 is the right level.
- Receiving a 😘 does not necessarily mean romantic interest. Between women in the English-speaking world and Korea it is usually just warmth.
Design differences by platform
Apple draws the closed eye as a line and the open eye clearly, with a red heart tucked beside the mouth, so the “winking kiss” is unmistakable. Google’s Noto face is rounder with a smaller heart and comes across as sweet and mild, while Microsoft’s Fluent version emphasizes the puckered lips in three dimensions. Samsung softens the closed eye into a curve and adds blush to the cheeks, which pushes it toward shy. Depending on the platform, the impression shifts between a playful wink and a bashful peck.
