Meaning
Picture a wide-eyed yellow face with a perfectly round or oval mouth agape in surprise—this is the classic expression of "wait, what?" The open mouth is the star feature here, rendered clearly enough that even at small sizes you immediately register shock or sudden realization. Most platforms keep the eyes wide and eyebrows raised to amplify the effect.
It's the go-to response when you're genuinely surprised, caught off-guard, or expressing disbelief. Someone shares unexpected gossip? Open mouth. You just realized you forgot something important? Open mouth. Someone says something wild? Open mouth. It works for positive surprises too—hearing great news can trigger the same "mouth drops open" reaction.
The beauty of this one is its versatility across emotional contexts. It bridges shock, confusion, and amazement without spelling out which one you're feeling. On social media, it pairs well with surprising announcements, unexpected plot twists in shows, or "no way!" moments. It's less intense than the astonished face but more expressive than a simple shocked emoji.
Interestingly, this emoji reads slightly more casual and relatable than its cousins—people gravitate toward it for everyday surprises rather than extreme reactions. Approved as part of Unicode Emoji 1.0 in 2015, it became essential for expressing those "didn't see that coming" moments that define modern digital conversation.
Common Uses
- • Reacting to unexpected news
- • Expressing surprise or shock
- • Responding to a wild statement or plot twist
Popular Combos
Did You Know?
This emoji is so universally associated with surprise that it's become a shorthand for 'wait, seriously?' across every major platform, making it one of the most-used reaction emoji in comment sections.
Keywords
Related Emoji
Technical Reference
Platform Shortcodes
:open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth: Developer Codes
| HTML (decimal) | 😮 |
| HTML (hex) | 😮 |
| CSS | \1F62E |
| JavaScript | \uD83D\uDE2E |
| Python | \U0001F62E |
| Java | \uD83D\uDE2E |
| Perl | \x{1F62E} |
| PHP / Ruby | \x{1F62E} |
| Punycode | xn--2r72 |
| URL Encoded | %F0%9F%98%AE |
| UTF-8 Bytes | 0xF0 0x9F 0x98 0xAE |
😮 in 28 languages
Names sourced from Unicode CLDR and emojibase.
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| Bengali | হাঁ করা মুখ |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 吃惊 |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 驚訝 |
| Danish | ansigt med åben mund |
| Dutch | gezicht met open mond |
| English | face with open mouth |
| English (UK) | face with open mouth |
| Estonian | avatud suuga nägu |
| Finnish | yllättynyt |
| French | visage avec bouche ouverte |
| German | Gesicht mit offenem Mund |
| Hindi | खुले मुँह वाला चेहरा |
| Hungarian | arc nyitott szájjal |
| Italian | faccina con bocca aperta |
| Japanese | 口が開いた顔 |
| Korean | 입벌린 얼굴 |
| Lithuanian | išsižiojęs veidas |
| Malay | muka bermulut ternganga |
| Norwegian | forbauset |
| Polish | twarz z otwartymi ustami |
| Portuguese | rosto com boca aberta |
| Russian | удивление |
| Spanish | cara con la boca abierta |
| Spanish (Mexico) | cara con la boca abierta |
| Swedish | förvånat ansikte |
| Thai | อ้าปาก |
| Ukrainian | обличчя з відкритим ротом |
| Vietnamese | mặt có miệng há |