The Winking Face With Tongue emoji 😜 means playful teasing, a joke, or lighthearted mischief. It shows a face with one eye winking and the tongue sticking out, signaling that the sender is kidding around, flirting, or poking fun in a friendly way rather than being serious or hostile.
What Does the Winking Face With Tongue Emoji Mean?
The 😜 emoji means "I'm joking" or "I'm being cheeky," combining a wink with a stuck-out tongue to signal playful intent.
Two facial cues work together here. The wink says "this is between us" or "don't take this too seriously," while the tongue adds silliness and a hint of defiance. The result is a face that reads as mischievous, teasing, and affectionate at once.
Its official Unicode name is FACE WITH STUCK-OUT TONGUE AND WINKING EYE, and Apple labels it "Winking with Tongue." The emoji lives in the Smileys & Emotion category, where it sits among the expressive face emojis people use to set the tone of a message.
Core meanings at a glance
- Joking: flags a sentence as a gag, not a literal statement.
- Teasing: softens a jab at a friend, sibling, or partner.
- Flirting: adds a cheeky, lighthearted edge to romantic banter.
- Silliness: expresses a goofy, carefree mood.
- Mischief: hints at a prank or a harmless secret.
How Do You Use the Winking Face With Tongue Emoji?
You use 😜 at the end of a message or caption to mark it as playful, so the reader knows not to take the words at face value.
It works best as a tone marker. A blunt sentence like "You're late again" can feel harsh in text, but adding 😜 turns it into a friendly nudge. The emoji does the job that a smirk or a laugh would do in person.
Here are a few realistic ways people use it:
- Guess who forgot the snacks again 😜
- I'm not saying I won, but the scoreboard says I did 😜
- Bet you can't beat my high score 😜
In each case, the emoji tells the reader that the message is competitive or critical only in fun. Without it, the same words could read as smug or sharp.
What Does 😜 Mean in Texting and on Social Media?
In texting and on social media, 😜 usually signals banter, sarcasm, or a cheeky punchline, and it is most common between friends and people who already share a joking rapport.
In texting
In one-on-one chats, the emoji often follows a tease, a dare, or a playful comeback. Friends use it to trade jabs without causing offense. Partners use it to keep a conversation light and flirty.
On social media
In captions and comments, 😜 often accompanies goofy selfies, party photos, throwback pictures, and humorous posts. It tells followers that a post is meant to be fun and unpolished. Under a friend's photo, a comment like Looking ridiculous as usual 😜 reads as affection, not insult.
As a sarcasm flag
The emoji can also mark intentional sarcasm. When someone writes Oh sure, I love waking up at 5 a.m. 😜, the face confirms that the statement is not meant literally. It is a lighter way to show sarcasm than something sharper or more cynical.
How Is 😜 Different From Similar Tongue-Out Emojis?
The winking version stands out because only 😜 pairs a wink with a stuck-out tongue, which adds a flirty, in-on-the-joke quality the other tongue emojis lack.
- Face With Tongue 😛 has open eyes and a plain tongue-out expression. It feels more neutral, childlike, or simply silly, without the wink's sense of shared secrecy.
- Squinting Face With Tongue 😝 has tightly shut eyes, which often reads as laughing hard, being grossed out, or cracking up over something absurd.
- Zany Face 🤪 has mismatched, wild eyes and conveys chaos, craziness, or over-the-top energy.
- Face Savoring Food 😋 shows a tongue licking the lips and relates to delicious food, not teasing.
If you want to say "I'm kidding, and we both know it," the wink makes 😜 the clearest choice. If you want to say "I'm wildly excited and a little unhinged," 🤪 fits better.
Which Emojis Pair Well With 😜?
The best partners for 😜 are other lighthearted emojis that reinforce humor, flirtation, or celebration.
- 😜😂: a joke that you also find hilarious.
- 😜🔥: a cheeky brag or a flirty compliment.
- 😜🎉: a party, a birthday, or a silly celebration.
- 😜💅: playful confidence or "I know I look good."
- 😜🤑: teasing about money or a lucky win, especially alongside the Money-mouth Face.
Keep combinations short. Two emojis usually communicate the mood clearly, while long chains can bury your message. To explore which other emojis are popular with it, check the trending emojis page.
When Should You Avoid the Winking Face With Tongue Emoji?
Avoid 😜 in serious, formal, or sensitive conversations, because its playful tone can make you seem flippant or dismissive.
The emoji adds a mischievous edge that may not suit certain situations. Think carefully before using it in these cases:
- Professional emails and formal messages: it can undercut your credibility with clients, managers, or people you have just met.
- Conflict or apologies: adding 😜 to a serious disagreement can read as mocking.
- Bad news or emotional topics: it clashes with grief, illness, or stress.
- Ambiguous flirting: the wink can be taken as romantic interest when you only meant friendly teasing.
When in doubt, consider your audience. A message that lands as a joke between close friends may feel disrespectful to a coworker. If you are unsure, a plain smile or no emoji at all is the safer choice.
How Does the Winking Face With Tongue Emoji Look on Different Platforms?
Every major platform shows 😜 as a yellow-style face with one winking eye and a stuck-out tongue, but the exact artwork, shading, and tongue shape vary by vendor.
The emoji is part of Unicode 6.0 and Emoji version 0.6, which is why it has been available for a long time across devices. It does not support skin tone modifiers, since it is a face emoji with a single standard appearance.
Support is broad:
- Apple: iOS 6.0+ and macOS 10.7+, where it appears as "Winking with Tongue."
- Google: Android 4.3+.
- Microsoft: Windows 8.0+.
- Samsung: One UI 1.0+.
- Meta: WhatsApp 2.17+.
- Twitter: Twemoji 1.0+.
Because designs differ, the same emoji can feel slightly more cheeky on one platform and more goofy on another. A message you send from an iPhone will be redrawn in the recipient's platform style, so the vibe may shift a little, though the core meaning stays the same.
How Do You Copy and Paste the Winking Face With Tongue Emoji?
You can copy the 😜 emoji with one click on this page and paste it into any app, message, post, or document.
Click the emoji button at the top of the page, and it is copied to your clipboard instantly. Then paste it wherever you need it, whether that is a text message, a comment, an email subject line, or a social caption. Its Unicode codepoint is U+1F61C, and the shortcode :winking_face_with_tongue: works in apps that support emoji shortcodes.
If you want to turn whole sentences into emoji-filled messages, try the Emoji Translator. For more expressive options, browse the full Smileys & Emotion category and copy any face you like with a single click.
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