The heart eyes emoji 😍 means love or adoration. It can be for a person, as in a crush, or for a thing, like a puppy, a dress or a slice of cake. Emojipedia describes it as a smiling face with red hearts for eyes that often conveys love, infatuation and adoration, as in 'I love this' or 'I'm in love with this person.'
😍 is one of the most enthusiastic emojis there is. It's the face you make when you see something you instantly adore. People use it for romance, but just as often for food, holidays, pets and new shoes. Here's what it means, when it's flirty and how it compares with the other love-heart faces.
What 😍 means
Emojipedia describes the emoji as a yellow face with an open smile, sometimes showing teeth, and red cartoon-style hearts for eyes. It says it often conveys enthusiastic feelings of love, infatuation and adoration. Unicode's official name is smiling face with heart-eyes.
Wiktionary's entry for heart eyes, the phrase, helps explain why it works so well. It defines heart eyes as a depiction of eyes shaped like hearts, usually as part of the 😍 emoji, and also as an informal noun for an amorous or adoring look directed at someone or something. That's the feeling the emoji sends.
Heart eyes for things you love
Most heart eyes emojis aren't romantic at all. They're for things.
- 'Look at this view 😍' A beautiful place.
- 'Just got the new trainers 😍' Something you're delighted with.
- 'Puppy pics please 😍' Pure adoration.
- 'That cake 😍😍' Food you can't wait to eat.
Wiktionary records the same idea in writing, where heart-eyes is used as an adjective meaning very fond. It quotes a 2022 New York Post article saying 'we're heart-eyes about them all', about earrings, and a 2023 Cosmopolitan line about being 'completely heart-eyes' over a gown.
Heart eyes for people
When it's aimed at a person, 😍 can be a crush, admiration or a friendly compliment. Context decides which.
| Situation | What 😍 usually means |
|---|---|
| Reply to a selfie from a friend | You look amazing |
| Reply to a date's photo | I'm into you |
| Comment on a baby or pet photo | So cute |
| Reply to good news | Love this for you |
| Sent out of the blue | Thinking of you, fondly |
If it comes from someone you're dating, it's flirty. From a friend, it's usually a compliment. From your mum, it's pride.
Making heart eyes at someone
The phrase 'making heart eyes' existed before the emoji became famous, and Wiktionary gives several book examples. One describes someone 'making heart eyes at her the whole time', another describes a dog gazing at its owner with heart eyes, and another shows parents gazing at their new baby 'with complete heart eyes'. The emoji is a shortcut for that look.
😍 compared with other love emojis
| Emoji | Unicode name | Feeling |
|---|---|---|
| 😍 | Smiling face with heart-eyes | Adoration, wow, I love this |
| 🥰 | Smiling face with hearts | Warm, cosy affection |
| 😘 | Face blowing a kiss | Affection with a kiss |
| 🤩 | Star-struck | Amazed, impressed |
| 😻 | Smiling cat with heart-eyes | The cat version of 😍 |
A simple way to think about it: 😍 is 'wow, I love it', 🥰 is 'I feel loved' and 🤩 is 'wow, that's impressive'. Emojipedia notes the cat version, 😻, is the heart-eyes emoji's feline twin.
Some people find the cat version less serious. Wiktionary quotes the singer Beth Ditto in a 2016 Guardian interview saying she uses the smiley face with the hearts for eyes as her emoji, and that the cat with heart eyes isn't serious enough.
How popular is the heart eyes emoji?
Very. Wikipedia's emoji article describes a January 2017 study by researchers at the University of Michigan, which analysed over 1.2 billion messages typed through the Kika Emoji Keyboard. Face with tears of joy 😂 came first, the heart ❤️ came second and smiling face with heart-shaped eyes 😍 came third. The same study found the French used heart emojis the most. My guide to the most popular emojis covers the full picture.
When the heart eyes emoji was created
Emojipedia says the emoji was approved as part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010 under the name 'Smiling Face with Heart-Shaped Eyes', and added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015. Unicode's emoji-test file tags it E0.6, among the earliest emojis, and lists it in the face-affection group alongside 🥰 and 😘.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
Heart eyes in marketing and captions
Brands love 😍 because it shows instant desire. You'll see it in product launch captions, food posts and travel photos, often paired with a short line like 'new in 😍'. It works because it's positive and easy to read at a glance. The risk is overuse: if every post has heart eyes, the emoji stops meaning much. Saving it for the things your audience will love most keeps it special. One well-placed 😍 on a photo of your best product says more than a caption full of them.
Heart emojis come in many moods, including the two hearts emoji.
Is 😍 ever misread?
Rarely, but it can be too strong for some situations. Sending heart eyes to a colleague's holiday photo is friendly; sending it to their selfie might feel personal. If you want to compliment without any romantic hint, 👍 or a short 'great photo!' is safer.
For a more businesslike mood, read about the handshake emoji.
Using 😍 well
It's warm, positive and hard to misread, which makes it a safe choice in most chats. On social media, it's a quick way to show love for someone's post. With a new romantic interest, it signals you're keen, so use it if you mean it. For other ways to show affection, the heart hands emoji is a lovely option. And if someone's heart eyes ever feel a bit too intense, too fast, it's worth reading about love bombing.
Frequently asked questions
What does 😍 mean?
It means love or adoration, for a person or a thing, shown as a smiling face with heart-shaped eyes.
Is the heart eyes emoji flirty?
It can be. From someone you're dating it's flirty; from a friend it's usually a compliment.
What is the difference between 😍 and 🥰?
😍 is 'wow, I love this', while 🥰 shows warm, cosy affection.
When was the heart eyes emoji made?
Emojipedia says it was approved in Unicode 6.0 in 2010 and added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015.
Is there a cat version of the heart eyes emoji?
Yes, 😻, the smiling cat with heart-eyes.
What does making heart eyes mean?
It means giving someone or something an adoring look, as Wiktionary defines heart eyes.
