We decoded the emojis teens use to signal everything from flirting to danger. Use this glossary to better understand what’s really being said in chats, DMs, and group texts.
Sexual or Suggestive
These are often used in flirty or sexual contexts—sometimes as coded references to explicit content:
- 🍆 (eggplant) – Penis
- 🍑 (peach) – Butt
- 💦 (sweat droplets) – Ejaculation or sexual excitement
- 👅 (tongue) – Oral sex or kissing
- 🔥 (fire) – “Hot” or attractive, sometimes sexual
- 😏 (smirk face) – Flirtation, suggestiveness
- 🙈 (see-no-evil monkey) – Embarrassment, often flirtatious or playful after saying something suggestive
- 🔞 (18+ sign) – Explicit or adult content
- 👙 (bikini) – Flirty, sexualized content
- 🫦 (biting lip) – Desire, seduction
- 💋 (kiss mark) – Flirting, sometimes sexual
- 🍒 (cherries) – Breasts or virginity (depending on context)
- 🤤 (drooling face) – Attraction or sexual desire
- 😈 / 👿 (smiling devils) – Naughty or provocative behavior
- 🛏️ (bed) – Implied sexual activity
- 🔐 (lock with key) – Implies romantic/sexual possession
- 🥂 (clinking glasses) – Flirty meetup, date, or party
Drug-Related
- Some emojis are now shorthand for drug references:
- 💊 (pill) – Prescription drugs, opioids
- 🌿 / 🍃 / 🍁 / 🔥 – Marijuana
- ❄️ (snowflake) – Cocaine
- 🍭 (lollipop) – Sometimes used to reference ecstasy or MDMA
- 🚬 (cigarette) – Smoking, often weed
- 🛁 (bathtub) – Drug mixing, sometimes implies overdose in darker contexts
- 🧪 (test tube) – Drug mixing or experimenting
- 🍬 (candy) – Disguised drug reference, especially pills
- 💉 (syringe) – Heroin or injecting drugs
- 🍫 (chocolate bar) – Refers to edibles (THC-infused)
- 🚀 (rocket) – Getting high, intense drug effects
- 🪬 (hamsa) – Spiritual drug use reference in some subcultures
Violent or Alarming
- Used in dark humor, threats, or self-harm references:
- 💀 (skull) – “Dead” from laughter, but can also imply real danger or threats depending on context
- 🔪 (knife) – Violence, threats, self-harm
- 🪓 / 🧨 / 🔫 – Sometimes used in alarming or threatening ways
- 🩸 (blood drop) – Self-harm, violence
- 🧨 (dynamite) – Threats or destruction
- 💣 (bomb) – Explosiveness, chaos, anger
- 😵 / 😵
- 💫 (dizzy face/spinning eyes) – Overdose or being overwhelmed
Other Slang or Subtextual Use
- 🥴 (woozy face) – Drunk, high, or overwhelmed
- 🤡 (clown) – Calling someone fake, embarrassing, or foolish\
- 🧠 (brain) – Often used to imply oral sex in a crude context
- 🧃 (juice box) – Could be code for lean (a drug cocktail) in some circles
- 🥵 – Hot, flustered, sometimes sexually suggestive
- 🧸 – Can be used as a manipulative “soft” symbol (often in grooming tactics)
- 🚩 (red flag) – Problematic or toxic behavior
- 🛑 (stop sign) – Used ironically to signal something extreme or shocking
- 🫣 (peeking face) – Hesitation before something risky is shared
- 🎯 (bullseye) – Targeting someone (can imply bullying)
- 📵 (no phones) – Hiding or secrecy, often online
- 🥸 (disguise face) – Deception or use of fake profiles