Thinking Face emoji 🤔: meaning and how to use it
🤔 — a face with a hand on its chin — means thinking, wondering or being skeptical. It's the classic “hmm…,” whether you're genuinely pondering or raising a doubtful eyebrow.
:thinking:What does the Thinking Face emoji mean?
The thinking face shows contemplation — considering an idea, weighing options, or asking a rhetorical “I wonder…”.
It's frequently skeptical or sarcastic: appended to a dubious claim to imply “really? that doesn't add up 🤔.” Tone decides whether it's sincere curiosity or side-eye doubt.
How the emoji is used
- Genuine pondering: “which one 🤔”
- Skepticism about a claim
- Rhetorical “makes you think” humor
- Considering options or decisions
Thinking Face emoji: Unicode details
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Emoji | 🤔 |
| Unicode code point(s) | U+1F914 |
| Unicode name(s) | Thinking Face |
| Shortcode | :thinking: |
| HTML entity | 🤔 |
| Category | Emoji |
Because it is defined in Unicode, this emoji works across phones, laptops and the web — though the exact artwork differs by platform (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung and Twemoji all draw it in their own style). The underlying meaning stays the same everywhere.
Related emojis
Need an icon, not an emoji?
Emojis are great for chats, but for websites and apps you usually want a clean, recolorable vector icon. Search thinking face and 311,000+ more on IconStash — free.
Find thinking face icons →Frequently asked questions
What does 🤔 mean?
It means thinking or wondering — a literal “hmm.” It's often used skeptically to hint that something doesn't quite add up.
How do I type the thinking face emoji?
On most keyboards, open the emoji picker (Windows: Win + ., Mac: Ctrl + Cmd + Space, iPhone/Android: the 😀 key) and search its name. Or just copy it from the button at the top of this page.
What is the shortcode for 🤔?
The common shortcode is :thinking:, used on Slack, Discord, GitHub and many other apps that turn :name: into an emoji.