World Emoji Day 2025: Decoding Gen Z's Secret Emoji Language

World Emoji Day 2025: Emojis have lent emotions and human touch to the conversations online. The digital world would have been dull and boring if emojis had not been invented. Emojis add life and vibrancy to communications, making them more comprehensible by eliminating the barriers of written texts. 

17 July is celebrated as World Emoji Day to underscore the importance of emojis and their significance in the world of communications.

GenZ’s Usage of Emojis 

Emojis have solidified as a niche language subset with connotations and interpretations varying for people across ages. For boomers and millennials, emojis hold face value, but Gen Z has gotten creative with their usage, reference, and meaning creation of the emojis. 

Hence, for many generations, Gen Z ‘convos’ on the internet seem all Greek and Latin. So let us use the opportunity of World Emoji Day to help you decode some of the popular emojis used by Gen Z and the meaning they carry in their world. From innuendos to sarcasm, Gen Z is making their life fun with a secretly coded language that not many are privy to. 

Thumbs Up 👍

You may be using the thumbs up as an acknowledgement, but for Gen Z, a thumbs up is not a positive sign. It denotes passive-aggression and is usually used ironically. Gen Z does not use ‘Thumbs Up’ with the people they love and care for, so beware next time.

Crying Face 😭

One of the most used emojis by Gen Z is the crying face. But it deceives with what it shows. GenZ used the crying emoji to express overwhelming emotions like extreme joy, or something so cute or funny that it tears them up.

Fire 🔥

This one’s pretty easy. When Gen Z finds something pretty ‘lit,’ they use the fire emoji. But there is a catch: a Gen Z girl will judge you for using a fire emoji to compliment your bae. It's cringe.

Clown 🤡

Used by oneself or someone else, the clown emoji refers to acts of clownery, absurdity, or foolishness. 

Smiling Face 🙂

GenZ expresses discomfort or awkwardness with a smile that’s not genuine, hence the smiling face emoji, which is not a true smile. 

Upside-Down Face🙃

An upside-down smiley face is worse. It is an awkwardness with a tinge of sarcasm, irony, and whimsical feelings. 

Goat 🐐

Goat is simply GOAT, i.e., Greatest of All Time.

Cap 🧢

A cap is used to refer to the slang of “that’s a cap,” meaning false or a lie.

Eyes 👀

The side eyes are an expression of curiosity and mischief. It means “tell me more,”  showing a sign of interest in the topic. 

Skull 💀

Skulls are usually associated with danger, but with GenZs there is a spin. Skulls are their symbol of something shocking or hilarious in an ironic way.

Fingers pointing to each other 👉👈

Fingers pointing to each other is an expression of coyness and shyness. 

Drooling 🤤

When Gen Z is drooling over the physical appearance or good looks of a person, they use the drool emoji.

Nails💅 

Confidence, sass, nonchalance, and indifference are expressed with a set of freshly manicured nails emoji. But 

Moon Face 🌚

A moon face is used to express naughtiness and mischievous emotions. It has a tone of playfulness 

Eyes and Lips 👁️👄👁️ 

Ever see this combination pull you on you? You might have stunned Gen Z. This emoji is used to express speechlessness by Gen Z.