The iconic pair of “heart-eyes” has been the manner of expressing visual attraction towards something or someone, for a while now. Much before these rosy eyes became a part of an emoji, they were (somewhere, still are) used in cartoons, comics, and other animated modes of entertainment to showcase infatuation and falling in love.
The red heart, as we’ve discussed in different posts and the ❤️ Red Heart emoji guide, is a symbol of love. It’s the token of romance and a sign that someone deeply loves something or someone else.
So, when a yellow emoji face, one that’s representative of the human face has these hearts for eyes, it only says one thing; that the person is falling in love with what they’re seeing at the moment. It’s when someone loves something they’re consuming, via different senses, but mostly, visually.
Meaning of 😍
The 😍 Smiling Face With Heart-Eyes emoji evokes satisfaction and pleasure in response to something that may nor may not have intended to please in the first place.
This emoji, like many expressive emojis, is an individual expression of likes and dislikes. 😍 suggests physical attraction towards something or someone. The bottom line? With 😍 it’s always about attraction, nothing more nothing less.
Instances That Use the Peculiar 😍 “Heart-Eyes”
The heart-eyes is not a new concept like we said before. It was a thing even before the emoji scene. Heart eyes were often used in cartoons such as Tom & Jerry, anime and manga series, and other animated shows, to show that someone is in fact, in love or is falling in love with something or someone.
These heart eyes were generally fitted into the cartoon’s lenses to express infatuation and sexual attraction towards the opposite gender/sex. If you see Tom, for instance, his eyes become heart-eyes when a female cat is around or when he sees something enticing, other than chances of getting laid, like, Jerry.
In other shows alike, heart eyes showcase allurement. They’re often used to show that someone is infatuated, becoming borderline, or completely obsessed with someone or something. The 😍 heart-eyes have a regular appearance in contexts of captivation, sometimes even lust and arousal.
What Does it Mean When Someone Sends 😍?
Considering the fact that heart eyes mean attraction, we’d like to say that when someone sends 😍 in a conversation, it’s an obvious mark of attraction. It needn’t always mean sexual or romantic attraction, it could also be platonic and asexual attraction towards something or someone.
😍 could signify one’s appreciation for someone or something as well. Not objectively, but a subjective form of appreciation, where the person is appreciating someone else not solely for what they did, but also because of their own personal bias for/over it. Meaning, they like/love the object of appreciation. For instance, “I’m in love with your hair color! 😍 “.
Apart from attraction and appreciation, 😍 is also a mark of amusement. Here, there are no sexual intentions or feelings involved, nor is there direct appreciation, but mere amusement. It’s when you’re amazed by something without personal feelings or attitudes attached to it. Like, “Wow. That’s just the best way to do one’s weekend, ain’t it? 😍 ”
Is 😍 a Sexual Emoji?
Though red hearts are not always symbols of physical/sexual love, they can mean that when paired with a 😀 Grinning Face, to create a 😍 smiling face with heart eyes. Then, the newly formed emoji will have feelings of romance, love, and everything the red heart stands for alongside feelings of contentment, excitement, and joy.
So, in a way, 😍 can have a sexual tangent. Besides, any emoji could have its own innuendos between texters. But, universally, there are some emojis that are closely aligned with physical contact, sex, intimacy, and related themes.
😍 is a contextually sexual emoji. Since the basic emotional response of this emoji is attraction, there is a possibility that that attraction could be sexual. So, when you’re responding to something that you’re sexually attracted to, 😍 can prove to be an ideal emoji.
Difference Between ❤️ and 😍
It’s evident so far that the ❤️ red heart emoji speaks for romantic love and maybe even unconditional love and fondness. But, the 😍 smiling face with heart eyes emoji is a little different.
😍 does express love, but not necessarily, deep, unconditional, or emotional love. It’s rather the mark of appreciation and “love” for something that’s visually beautiful. It’s a symbol of physical love. But, all that doesn’t limit 😍 to the physical realm of beauty, although it has hearts for eyes.
😍 also conveys feelings of love, appreciation, and amusement for things that are consumed by senses other than the eyes too, like auditorily, or via mental stimulation like reading, reasoning analyzing, etc., The heart eyes can expand the same significance to other sensory organs as well.
How to Correctly Use the 😍 Smiling Face With Red Hearts Emoji?
If you come across something that you love online, either on your social media feed or on a textual conversation, then, it would be appropriate to express that liking with 😍. However, each emoji has its own authenticity online. The “heart-eyes” could say more than intended because they’re so extra.
So, it’s important to be extra, that is, to feel that extra attraction and gravity towards something to use 😍. Otherwise, it’s just another mindless pitch into the conversation, nothing making it particularly meaningful and honest. We recommend using 😍 only when you really like, love, adore, have a crush on, or are obsessing over something/someone or are crazy about it/them. That’s the suggested way of using 😍 .
Other ‘Heart-Eyes’ Emojis
Other than the original 😍 smiling face with heart eyes emoji, there are a few facial or smiley emojis where the hearts do the talking. In other words, where the hearts define the expression of the emoji.
😻 Smiling Cat With Heart-Eyes Emoji
😻 is the cat-version of the current 😍 smiling face with heart eyes emoji. It’s the feline expression of attraction. This emoji paints a rather unnatural picture of attraction and emotional expression (like all cat emojis do). And that’s what makes 😻 that much cute and sometimes, even creepy.
If not a way of expressing as a cat, 😻 can also be used to show that your cat likes/loves/adores/is obsessed with something/someone (though the latter is the rarest chance, it’s still worth mentioning).
🥰 Smiling Face With Hearts Emoji
The only other emoji with “facial hearts” is the 🥰 smiling face with hearts emoji or the “feeling loved” emoji. This one’s miles away from the focus of this guide, but it is an emoji that has hearts on or around the face. 🥰 is more like the response to a 😍 or 😻.
For example,
👰♀️: I absolutely love your collection? 😍
💃: Oh, thanks much 🥰 That’s so sweet of you
In Conclusion
The “heart-eyes” emoji is definitely all hearts for everything it sees. It’s a visual capture. It has an eye for details, which in this case, is anything that’s visually appealing. 😍 is the virtual expression towards something that one finds attractive, catchy, and exciting in every way.