The Top Emojis To Use This Year

As of 2019, there were 3,109 emoji out there. Some of these emoji are virtual celebrities, like 💯 (hundred points emoji) and 😂 (face with tears of joy emoji). But some of these thousands of emoji don’t get nearly enough time in the spotlight. Some emoji just seem too obscure to use on a daily basis, like 🐧 (penguin emoji). Others are newcomers on the emoji scene, like 🪐 (ringed planet emoji).

We find each and every single emoji fascinating. That’s why we made a resolution to use some of these too-frequently-overlooked emoji. After all, these emoji are useful, whimsical, and just the kind of vocabulary we want to add into our lexicon this year.

axe emoji 🪓

We don’t want to give this emoji the axe.

The axe emoji 🪓 depicts an axe with a wooden handle and a red-and-silver blade. The emoji can be used for literal axe murderers and/or axe throwing. But we think the metaphorical use is more interesting.

To give something the axe means that you’ve cancelled it or cut it off. This can be used for everything from TV shows that we wish would just go away to getting a haircut.

Just get out your axe emoji and swing away.

pinching hand emoji 🤏

If we want to get just a smidge more excited about these top emoji to use in 2020, we might pull out the pinching hand emoji 🤏.

The pinching hand emoji shows a hand making the gesture of a pinch, as indicated by the thumb and forefinger coming together. This hand gesture is used to indicate a small amount of something.

However, the internet had other ideas about what it could possibly mean which some may find offensive. Expect pinching hand to see plenty of use for explicit commentary as the emoji catches on in 2020 …

wind face emoji 🌬️

The wind face emoji shows the personification of the wind. On most platforms, it appears as a blue woman’s face in profile blowing a small cloud.

Obviously, the wind face emoji is often used to illustrate posts about cloudy scenes or windy weather. It’s slightly whimsical.

However, the wind face emoji has taken on other meanings over the years, too. It can be used to show someone focusing on their breathing. It’s also used to illustrate feelings of being relaxed or having fun, as in letting go of stress by exhaling.

In addition to expressing feelings of zen, the wind face emoji is also used in posts about smoking, which we don’t condone.

moon viewing ceremony emoji 🎑

Goodnight, moon. That’s the gist of the moon viewing ceremony emoji.

In Japanese culture, the moon viewing ceremony 🎑 or Tsukimi is a festival celebrating the autumn full moon. The emoji shows the symbols of the celebration: pampas grass (representing the rice harvest), dango (a kind of cake left as an offering), and, of course, the full moon.

Most non-Japanese emoji users probably don’t realize the moon viewing ceremony emoji relates to this specific holiday. Instead, they use the moon viewing ceremony when wishing people goodnight. It’s also used to illustrate posts about peaceful nights when the moon is visible.

It makes sense—the moon viewing ceremony emoji does have a kind of peaceful feeling to it.

llama emoji 🦙

Don’t you just want to rub their furry little heads? The llama emoji 🦙 is of course used in posts about llamas! It’s also used in posts about other animals, about cute cuddly things, and in posts about its cousin, the alpaca.

Llamas are so darn cute that the emoji isn’t just used for literal llamas. It’s also used in general as a representation of things that are adorable.

K-pop fans might also relate the fuzzy llama and its emoji with the popular artist Amber Liu from the group f(x). This Taiwanese-American singer is known for her ties with the fuzzy creature, inspiring her fans worldwide to use the llama emoji when talking about their favorite performing artist.

left or right-pointing magnifying glass 🔍 or 🔎

Look a little closer and you’ll see why the left or right-pointing magnifying glass emoji (🔍 or 🔎) deserves more recognition this year.

For starters, anything that suggests detective work or science is cool in our book.

Because the emoji is often used as a search icon or to signpost content, its orientation can be meaningful. Some place 🔎 before the object of interest, such as a link or image. Others place 🔍 after a comment, like a punctuation mark. The left-tilting version, though, may precede content in languages written right to left, like Arabic.

The magnifying glass emoji isn’t only useful when you have a mystery on your hands. It can be used to symbolize looking more closely at the details, especially when it comes to fashion, as well as looking for something more generally, like a recommendation.

peach emoji 🍑

The peach emoji 🍑 is no stranger to controversy. After all, it is so often rudely referred to as the butt emoji.

But since the beginning of impeachment proceedings against President Trump, the peach emoji has once again been thrust into the spotlight. This time it finds itself at the center of an impeachment controversy, or, perhaps more accurately, an im🍑ment controversy.

On Twitter and other social media, the peach emoji is frequently used in reference to impeachment and the desire to remove POTUS from office generally.

electric light bulb emoji 💡

We had the bright idea that the electric light bulb emoji 💡should be included on this list. While this emoji is popular, people don’t always realize how many different uses it has.

The electric light bulb emoji can stand for electric power and lighting, like in reference to various kinds of lights, from cell phones to the cosmos. But it also represents a sudden insight, knowledge, or thought in general—basically anything “bright” in the metaphorical sense, like “bright” futures or “knowledge is power.”

And the electric light bulb emoji is sometimes used to pun on the slang lit, meaning “exciting” or “excellent.”