Emoji dictionary
😷 Face With Medical Mask emoji
[ feys with med-i-kuhl mask ih-moh-jee ]
What does 😷 Face With Medical Mask emoji mean?
The Face With Medical Mask emoji 😷 depicts a yellow face wearing a white surgical mask.
It is commonly used in reference to various health and medical topics, from doctors to disease. It is also commonly used to represent feeling sick or disgusted.
The Face With Medical Mask emoji 😷 surged during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, as wearing face masks were central to helping stop the spread of disease, which is communicated through the air.
Where does 😷 Face With Medical Mask emoji come from?
The Face With Medical Mask emoji 😷 was approved under Unicode 6.0 in 2010. On most major platforms, the emoji resembles a yellow, smiley-style face wearing a white surgical mask as used by healthcare professionals. On most platforms, the face has closed eyes that convey various emotional tones (sad, happy, neutral). Microsoft’s design features a bead of sweat over the face’s left eye.
Prior to 2020, the Face With Medical Mask emoji 😷 was used more generally in the context of medicine and illness. The emoji skyrocketed in 2020, however, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Wearing a face mask in public areas was mandated in many places as an effective way to protect from getting and spreading the virus—and these mandates were met with some pointed resistance and backlash.
The Face With Medical Mask emoji 😷 also became a common way to express support and gratitude for frontline health workers battling the virus (while wearing masks).
Examples of 😷 Face With Medical Mask emoji
Who uses 😷 Face With Medical Mask emoji?
The Face With Medical Mask emoji 😷 can be used when discussing personal illness and medical topics more generally.
Anyone else have the flu 😷, I’m dying at work ☹️
— 21 (@1hakz_) September 25, 2017
Any remedies for a consistent cough? 😷 sick kiddos are keeping me up all night 😩
— Im A cOoL cAt (@StephsBeauty05) September 22, 2017
It is also sometimes used when a person is feeling metaphorically sick—that is, grossed out or disgusted.
Unpopular opinion: Sushi is so gross 😷
— Sierra Dills (@SierraDills17) February 26, 2019
Once you get used to almond milk dairy milk is DISGUSTING 😷
— Medina (@medii_h) September 12, 2019
In 2020, the Face With Medical Mask emoji 😷 was widely used in reference to life under the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID update: 3.3% positive in our overnight county data (good). 3.9% is our rolling two week average (Needs improvement). 😷
— Rick Kriseman (@Kriseman) October 16, 2020
My health goals for the day:
🔹Be active (12,000 steps!) 🏃🏾
🔹Do something with my kids 🧒🏽
🔹Eat something green 🥦
🔹Wear a mask if out in public 😷
🔹 Say / do something nice to lift up someone else’s day 🥰What are your health goals today?
🤔💪🏽— U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) October 12, 2020
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of 😷 Face With Medical Mask emoji like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of 😷 Face With Medical Mask emoji that will help our users expand their word mastery.