Also known as: smiling with tear, bittersweet, happy crying, touched, moved
The Smiling Face with Tear (🥲) captures a very specific emotion: happiness through pain. It shows a gentle smile with a single tear rolling up the cheek — not sobbing (😭), not pleading (🥺), but a quiet, bittersweet joy. Think of it as "I'm smiling, but I'm also emotional about it."
Use it for proud-but-sad moments: "My kid's first day of school 🥲". Or when you're grateful despite difficulty: "It was a hard year but I made it 🥲". Or when something is genuinely touching: "This video of soldiers surprising their families 🥲". The upward curve of the tear (it goes up, not down) is often interpreted as the tear being swept upward by the smile — emphasizing that the joy outweighs the sadness.
Not sure if 🥲 is the right choice? The Smiling Face with Tear emoji is best for expressing the specific emotions described above. If you need a different nuance, try one of the related emojis listed above. Each emoji carries its own emotional weight and cultural context — choosing the right one can completely change how your message lands.
Click the copy button above to copy the Smiling Face with Tear emoji (🥲) to your clipboard. Then paste it anywhere — iMessage, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, email, or any app that supports emojis. On desktop, you can also right-click the emoji and select "Copy Emoji" or use Ctrl+C (Cmd+C on Mac) after selecting it.