Emoji dictionary
🤔 Thinking Face emoji
[thing-king feys ih-moh-jee]
What does 
Thinking Face emoji mean?
The thinking face emoji can be used to reference a question or an idea. It also has a rhetorical use as a way to passive aggressively doubt someone or something.
Where does 🤔 Thinking Face emoji come from?
The thinking face was added to the Unicode emoji set in 2015. It has widely been used as the emoji equivalent of “hmm” in any and all contexts that this might be used, from a literal thinking sound to a more abstract expression of skepticism.
Examples of 🤔 Thinking Face emoji
Who uses 🤔 Thinking Face emoji?
Sometimes the thinking face emoji is used literally to append questions, and this shows the writer is contemplating an answer. In these cases, it is often paired with a thought balloon, or a light bulb. These questions often call for answers, and are statements of either confusion or consideration.
Hm🤔 pic.twitter.com/olXeCWcKpl
— Fakie Mac Fake (@Fake_Offiziell) October 17, 2018
Other times, the thinking face emoji is used to cast doubt (though not necessarily shade) on a person or idea. Here, the thinking face emoji is more sarcastic in use. Soon after the thinking face emoji’s introduction, New York magazine’s Max Read explained it as conveying a “furrowed brow,” an “alarmed murmur,” or “concerned skepticism.” In these cases, it usually follows a statement or rhetorical question, adding a nuanced tone of doubt or passive aggression to the comment.
“Courage now, truth always”
— susan ahmadi (@susanahmadi) October 18, 2018
Sometimes the thinking face emoji is used as a stand-alone response to convey skepticism. In this way, even previously neutral statements can be altered by the thinking face emoji.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of 🤔 Thinking Face 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 🤔 Thinking Face emoji that will help our users expand their word mastery.