🤷 Person Shrugging emoji

The person shrugging emoji doesn’t include gender specific markers, but may be used as a component to create the man shrugging emoji and woman shrugging emoji. It usually shows up as either a man or woman shrugging, depending what operating system you see it on. Some operating systems allow users to choose the gender and skin color of their human emoji, and people often choose ones that best reflect themselves.

Generally, this emoji is geared toward uses that mirror the ways people use an actual shrug as a communicative tool. Any situation where a person might shrug in real life is a great opportunity to use the person shrugging emoji.

An obvious meaning for this emoji is a lack of knowledge. This emoji lets someone shrug in response to a situation in which they don’t have an immediate answer. This could be in regard to actual questions or it might be when someone doesn’t know how to react to someone or something.

The person shrugging emoji is also perfect for situations where passive aggression or annoyance are appropriate. It can be used to point out that someone else is being unpleasant or ignorant. It could also be used to brush other people off. Related to this meaning, people might also use it to show they’ve given up on something in a resigned way.

The person shrugging emoji also appears in situations where consequences aren’t really given much consideration. In this case, it’s almost like the emoji is saying “whatever” or “oh well” in response to what might happen as a result of their actions. For example, someone might use the person shrugging emoji to say that they’ve decided to watch Netflix instead of doing their homework and that they don’t care about the consequences, at least not for now. This meaning is closely linked to indifference or self-acceptance, sometimes in response to other people’s perceived judgment. Someone might discuss liking something unabashedly and use the person shrugging emoji to preemptively deflect any naysayers.