Hi, meaning secret or confidential, circled in red marks a document as classified or a recipe nobody's meant to share. It's Japan's version of a stamped 'confidential' rather than a whispered one, typed now for anything meant to stay just between two people.
What ㊙️ means
A white colored symbol read as 'hi' in Japanese and 'mì' in Chinese, painted onto a round red solid. The ㊙️ Japanese 'Secret' Button emoji symbolizes 'secret' in both languages. It also conveys other forms of the theme such as 'secrecy' and 'secretive.
How and when to use it
- While referring to the human characteristic of being secretive and secrecy at large, in any context, you may use ㊙️. For example, "It's almost impossible for me to be secretive ㊙️" or "Keeping secrets is the same as lying, if you didn't know it already ㊙️".
- You could also ㊙️ in the positive light of a secret. For instance, "The secret to a healthy mind is giving zero damns ㊙️" or "There is no such thing as a hopeless situation. Every situation can change your life ㊙️" (courtesy - the secret).
- Secrecy also creates an air of mystery, mostly the disloyal and untrustworthy kind. If you're referring to something or someone fitting of this description, you may use ㊙️ while painting a picture of the same.
- Besides, ㊙️ also fits into frameworks that are about 'hiding. Like, "When it comes to art, it's important not to hide the madness ㊙️" or "He was such a coward, he hid every time life grew tough ㊙️".
Other Names
- ㊙️ Hi
- ㊙️ Mì
- ㊙️ Secret
- ㊙️ Secretive/Secrecy
- ㊙️ Japanese Sign Meaning 'Secret'
- ㊙️ Circled Ideograph Secret
The lowdown
- Category
- Symbols › alphanum
- Codepoints
U+3299 U+FE0F- Emoji version
- Emoji 0.6
- Shortcodes
:secret:GitHub- Keywords
- button, ideograph, Japanese, secret
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.
⚡ Quick round
Which joined the keyboard first — ㊙️ Japanese “secret” Button or ⛏️ Pick?