11 Emojis That Have Multiple Meanings

In the 21st century, emojis emerged as one of the universal languages used by the majority of individuals in their day-to-day communication. From personal messages to email campaigns, people and some brands have begun utilizing emojis to help convey what words cannot complement what they meant by their words.

Its growing popularity led to yearly trends of the most popular emojis circling the Internet for years now. And while there are those, there are also emojis such as the hug and open hands emoji to the relieved face and raised hands emoji that continue to confuse people who are not well-versed with it. As a language all its own, it’s highly recommended to know the right meaning to some of the confusing emojis you’ll encounter. Continue reading as we discuss the most popular confusing emojis there are and their meanings.

1. Hug Emoji

This emoji looks like jazz hands and is sometimes confused with “feeling pretty,” “extreme joy,” or “confusion.” However, its full name is “happy face with hugging hands” which meant that the right meaning or use of this particular emoji is to indicate a nice, friendly hug.

2. Open Hands Emoji

This emoji shows two open hands that are pointed straight forward. There are different meanings to it, but close to it is the meaning of “hugging” as it looks similar to the hugging face emoji. Also called jazz hands because they do look like jazz hands, this emoji represents honesty and openness. It’s a friendly gesture used commonly by well-versed netizens.

3. Relieved Face Emoji

Not to be confused with the pensive face as the mouth has a different shape, the “relieved face emoji” depicts a slight smile, raised eyebrows, and soft, closed eyes. Also known as the content or sigh face emoji, it is used to express pleasant feelings, contentment, relief, peace, and gratitude.

4. Raised Hands Emoji

The raising or raised hands emoji shows two hands raised with the palms up and have lines above them. Confused as an expression of high-five or praying, this particular emoji means enjoying success or a celebration. It can be used to symbolize the user’s joy for receiving good news or winning something.

5. Dizzy Emoji

What looks like a shooting star or a comet at first glance is called a dizzy emoji. From the name itself, it’s the representation of dizziness but displayed in cartoon style. It can be used by netizens to inform receivers that they are dizzy, as they’re seeing stars because of their dizziness.

6. Tired Emoji

This particular emoji may look like it’s the perfect representation for confusion or whining. However, this yellow, round face with its eyes closed expresses the feeling of someone tired, sleep-deprived, and at times, even bored.

7. Weary Face Emoji

It may look just like the tired face emoji, but the difference lies in the shape of the eyes. It conveys several feelings such as being overwhelmed, exhaustion and being resigned to unpleasant tasks, and more.

8. Face Palm Emoji

At first glance, it looks like a headache as the hand is shown to be pressing against the person’s head. However, the correct meaning for this emoji is the person is frustrated or embarrassed with themselves and others. Although it’s a popular gesture, some netizens confuse it with the meaning of a headache and use it as such.

9. Folded Hands Emoji

Another confusing emoji is the “folded hands” emoji. Like the raised hands emoji, the folded hands are also sometimes confused with praying or high-fiving. The hands pressed together can mean different, abstract concepts when accompanying a text. Some of its positive meanings are hope and gratitude, but it could also mean pleading.

10. Face with Tears of Joy Emoji

Although it may look like this emoji is crying and often confused by people and used to convey sobbing, the correct meaning is that the emoji is laughing so hard that you cry – represented by the smile with tears streaming down its yellow, round face. It could also mean expressing amusement to something embarrassing or funny that the user reacted to.

11. Person Bowing Emoji

Its full name is “person bowing deeply” but is sometimes confused by users as an emoji depicting the person thinking hard or napping and is used as such. But this person bowing with their hands placed in front and lines above means showing respect as well as apologizing.

Takeaway

Looking at the numerous emojis available on these text messaging and chatting apps, it’s easy to get confused since they’re so little when viewed on a device. In addition, the consistency in the expressions of these yellow, round faces across all the platforms adds up to the confusion. However, it’s vital to make sure that you’re using the right emoji to express your feeling or not use any at all to avoid confusion. The first step you can do to become well-versed is to read this article and find out the right meanings to the first batch of confusing emojis you’ll see here.