🪹

Empty Nest Emoji 🪹

The 2019 proposal for this emoji listed empty-nest syndrome, parents whose kids have finally moved out, among its reasons for existing at all. It covers any goodbye to a life stage now, not just parenting: a graduation, a move, anything that leaves a space behind.

What 🪹 means

An empty nest designed with a semi-bowl foundation of twigs and sticks, carefully made and placed at the interjection of a tree branch. The nest showcases a nice, pastel shade of brown.

The 🪹 Empty Nest emoji suggests the birds have left the nest. It furthers that notion to other species apart from birds too. This emoji indicates the stage of independence every living being goes through and also describes parental sadness that comes with an empty nest.

How and when to use it

If you're expressing low or mild separation anxiety in any shape or form, you can use this emoji. For instance, "It hurts to see all of you leave. I'm back again, alone in this empty home 🪹".
You could also apply this emoji while referring to independence. It could be your own financial independence, that of another person, or even a pet animal you used to house. Like, "There goes my baby lion *sobs* 🪹".
Use this emoji if 'empty nest syndrome' is what you're aiming at. It could emerge from your own experience or someone else's.
An empty nest also suggests that there's no room for physical vulnerability because all those eggs are fully formed adults now. For example, "Oh, sorry mate. No impressionable minds in here! 🪹" or "You cannot attack someone who's left the nest 🪹".
"Leaving the nest" also means that you're no longer an active part of the house you used to live in. As in, there's no constant participation in that sphere because you're out there building your own life. You may use this emoji to showcase this perspective as well.
An unexpected turn to this emoji is that it could represent the beginning of a family too since the nest is empty. The birdies are yet to come! 🪹

Other Names

🪹 Empty
🪹 Empty Home
🪹 Nesting
🪹 Empty Nest Syndrome
🪹 Emptiness
🪹 Starting a Family
🪹Separation Anxiety/Sadness
🪹 Leaving Home
🪹 Lonely
🪹 No Family or Waiting For One

The lowdown

Category: Animals & Nature › plant-other
Codepoints: U+1FAB9
Emoji version: Emoji 14.0
Shortcodes: :empty_nest:
Keywords: branch, empty, home, nest, nesting

How it looks across platforms

Seeing a blank box instead of the emoji somewhere? Here's why that happens. Curious why the designs above don't match to begin with? Here's why that happens too.