What does 😭 mean in a text?

"I'm crying laughing." The big one. Something is so funny your teen is "crying." Dictionary.com's guide to how Gen Z uses emoji lists 😭 alongside 💀 as a way to laugh, where older texters would send 😂.

"This is too cute." A puppy in a costume, a friend's good news, a favorite singer on stage. Dictionary.com says younger texters use it when something is "so funny, cute, or sweet" that it's overwhelming.

Actual sadness or frustration. It still means that too. Dictionary.com notes it can show real frustration, or tease someone for being a crybaby.

The loudly crying face is not new: Dictionary.com says it was added to Unicode in 2010. Its official look is a face sobbing streams of tears. Dictionary.com explains how younger users flipped it: its tears now tend to be "reserved for something that has brought them tremendous joy, hilarity, or some gushy sentiment."

In strings. 😭😭😭 is the loud version. The more faces, the funnier or cuter the thing was.

Next to words that sound sad but aren't. "i'm literally crying 😭" under a funny video means laughing, not crying.

In comments and replies. Under a friend's post, 😭 is a big reaction: "this is too much, in a good way."

After a no. Sent to a parent after a plan falls through, it's usually playful drama with a little real disappointment mixed in.

Harmless. It isn't rude to send to anyone, and it isn't a cry for help on its own. If anything, it's warm: your teen is reacting with a big feeling, even if the feeling is laughter.

Our read: the strings (😭😭😭) are almost always laughter. A single 😭 next to real news, a fight or a bad day is the one to read in context.

After a funny or cute moment, you don't need to say anything. If you want to play along, sending 😭 back after something genuinely funny is fine.

If you can't tell whether it's the joke kind or the real kind, ask. "Funny crying or real crying?" is a fair, light question, and it gives them an easy way to tell you if something is actually wrong.

• 💀 Skull: the "I'm dead" laugh, an older cousin of 😭.
• 🥀 Wilted rose: the mock-sad one, for fake heartbreak.
• IJBOL: "I just burst out laughing," spelled out.
• GRWM: "get ready with me," a code you'll see in the same feeds.
• Teen texting decoded: every emoji and code on one page.
• The Lowkey slang dictionary: every word, not just the emoji.