An old-school handheld microphone, angled and ready — that's the microphone emoji. It's used for singing, karaoke nights, rapping, and public speaking, plus the specific flex of a 'mic drop' moment after someone says something so definitive there's nothing left to add.
What 🎤 means
A left-facing mic that's designed with a thick black handle equipped with a silvery sliding switch and a round netted structure at the top made of the same color as the switch.
The 🎤 Microphone emoji represents the famous singer's mic; the one we karaoke with, the one we tremble to hold center stage, and the one we personify with a faucet, a comb, pretty much anything that makes us feel pop!
How and when to use it
- If your best friend told you about something much earlier and you're hyping her/him up on the 'other groups', use 🎤. For example, "Go on!!! Tell them what you told me! 🎤".
- A mic essentially amplifies one's voice making it audible far and wide. If you're sharing something that needs this kind of amplification, use 🎤. For instance, "I finally, FINALLY went to the market and got me a pair of undiessss 🎤".
- 🎤 seems like it's being held to a source of music, sound, noise, etc. Similarly, you too could use this emoji to amplify anything that needs recognition (sarcastically or not). Like, "Oh my god. Say that again 🎤 That's literally the most sense you've made all week".
- Also, a microphone signifies a sense of spotlighting the vocalist/speaker/karaoke artist, etc. So, 🎤 could be used to represent just that - "It's always blissful when you're known by your talent 🎤".
Other Names
- 🎤 Mic
- 🎤 Singing Microphone
- 🎤 Vocalist's Mic
- 🎤 Karaoke
- 🎤 Singing
- 🎤 Voice Amplifier
🎤 in real conversations
What does 🎤 mean when someone drops it at the end of a post?
'Mic drop' — a way of saying that's the final word, nothing left to add after a point that good. The actual gesture goes back to comedians and rappers dropping their microphones after a knockout performance, and it went fully mainstream after Obama did it at the 2016 White House Correspondents' Dinner. 🎤 alone at the end of a caption borrows that exact 'I rest my case' energy.
What does 🎤 mean as a karaoke invite?
Pretty literal — let's go sing, whether that's an actual karaoke bar or just belting it out in the car with the windows down. It shows up constantly in group chats planning a night out, standing in for the whole activity without anyone needing to type 'karaoke.'
Is 🎤 used for anything besides singing or speeches?
Yes — it covers rap and freestyle content too, captioning someone spitting bars or dropping a verse, and it shows up in interview or podcast posts as a stand-in for 'we talked about this on record.' The common thread is always someone's actual voice being the point.
The lowdown
- Category
- Objects › music
- Codepoints
U+1F3A4- Emoji version
- Emoji 0.6
- Shortcodes
:microphone:- Keywords
- karaoke, mic, microphone, music, sing, sound
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.
Pairs well with
Tap any combo to copy the whole thing.
⚡ Quick round
Which joined the keyboard first — 🎤 Microphone or 🇧🇫 Flag: Burkina Faso?
Runs with a crowd
🎤 keeps company in music emojis and party emojis — tap-to-copy sets for when one emoji isn't enough.