🤒 is the face with thermometer: a drooping face with a thermometer sticking out of its mouth. It was added to Unicode in 2015, and it is the clearest way to say “I have a fever.” It is not just “I’m in a bad mood”; it announces a specific state, which is why it appears so often in messages that call in sick or cancel plans.
How it’s used
- Calling in sick: “Running a fever, so I’ll be out today 🤒”
- Flu season: “Flu test came back positive, see you in a week 🤒”
- Body aches: “Chills since last night and now the full cold 🤒”
- Parents: “Our little one has a temperature so no school today 🤒”
- Check-ins: “Stay healthy out there, everyone 🤒”
🤒 is about fever. For sneezing and a runny nose use 🤧; for masks and infection control, 😷; for headaches and injuries, 🤕; for nausea, 🤢. The plain 🌡️ thermometer by itself is often read as a weather or temperature comment.
Korea, Japan and the English-speaking world
In English, it goes with “sick day,” “calling in sick,” “fever” and “under the weather.” A fever is generally counted from about 100.4°F (around 38°C). The word “sick” can also mean “awesome” in slang, but the emoji sticks to the literal meaning. People occasionally use it as a metaphor for “I feel sick about this.”
In Korean, it appears with 몸살 (flu-like body aches), 독감 (influenza) and 열 오른다 (“my temperature is rising”), especially when announcing a sick day. School and daycare absence notes and group-chat leave reports are full of it, and since 2020 it also evokes temperature checks and quarantine.
In Japan, it is called 熱がある顔 and goes with 熱が出た, 体調不良 and インフル. It often sits beside the set phrase 体調不良のため休ませていただきます used in absence notices to schools and workplaces. Many Japanese people take their temperature under the arm, so the mouth thermometer in the picture feels slightly Western, and a reading above 38°C is often treated as the line for staying home.
Where it gets misread
- At small sizes the thermometer can look like a cigarette or a lollipop. The sick expression is the thing to look at.
- Because it also appears in jokes about faking illness, serious messages are clearer when they name the symptoms in words.
- Unlike 😷, it is about fever, not masks. There are many sick faces, so pick the one that matches your situation.
- In conversations about serious illness, it can feel too light and is best left out.
Design differences by platform
Every platform shows a thermometer in the mouth and a slightly pale or flushed face. The length and color of the thermometer, the color of the face, and the droop of the eyes and brows vary, so some versions look sicker and some look merely tired. Apple’s expression is realistic, Google’s Noto is simpler, Microsoft’s Fluent has soft volume, and Samsung’s thermometer tends to stand out more.
