Crying Cat Emoji
U+1F63F:crying_cat_face:About Crying Cat πΏ
Crying Cat () is part of the Smileys & Emotion group in Unicode. Added in Unicode E0.6. Type on GitHub and Slack to use it. Click copy above to grab it, paste it anywhere.
Works in iMessage, WhatsApp, Discord, Slack, Instagram, Twitter, Gmail, and every app that supports Unicode.
Often associated with animal, cat, cry, and 4 more keywords.
Meaning varies across cultures, see cultural notes below.
Scroll down for the full story: meaning, trends, combos, and more.
How it looks
What does it mean?
A cat face with a frown and a single tear rolling down its cheek. πΏ is the feline version of π’, but the cat version does something the human one can't: it's sad and funny at the same time.
That duality comes from the Crying Cat meme, a family of photoshopped images showing real cats with glistening, tear-filled eyes that first appeared on Meme Generator in June 2014. The meme, later named "Schmuserkadser" on the German image board pr0gramm in April 2015, became one of the internet's defining reaction images for expressing ironic sadness. You're sad, but you're a cat, so the pain comes pre-packaged with cuteness. It's grief you can retweet.
πΏ inherited all of that energy. When someone sends it, they're usually not heartbroken. They're bummed that the pizza place is closed, or that their favorite show got canceled, or that Monday exists. The cat face signals: 'I'm acknowledging this feeling, but I'm not going to be weird about it.' It's emotional honesty with a built-in pressure release valve.
Added in Unicode 6.0 (2010) as CRYING CAT FACE. Part of a set of 9 cat face emoji (πΊπΈπΉπ»πΌπ½ππΏπΎ) that mirror their human equivalents, all because a Japanese carrier added cat faces to their emoji set in 2003 and Unicode kept them for compatibility.
πΏ lives in the space between genuine sadness and performative despair. It's the emoji you reach for when π’ feels too heavy and π
feels too dismissive. 'They didn't text back πΏ' or 'Out of oat milk πΏ' or 'Just realized it's only Tuesday πΏ.'
The Crying Cat meme trained an entire generation of internet users to associate sad cats with ironic emotional processing. There's even a psychological explanation for why it works: the juxtaposition of an innocent animal face with exaggerated human emotions creates what researchers call cognitive disconnect, making difficult emotions feel manageable through humor. A sad person is a downer. A sad cat is content.
On Discord and Twitch, πΏ and custom crying cat emotes are some of the most-used reaction images. There are entire Discord servers dedicated to sad cat emojis, and Youtooz released a Crying Cat collectible figurine in March 2021. The meme has its own merch.
In 2024, the sad cat aesthetic went even further with the 'Miaw Miaw' TikTok trend: AI-generated slideshows of orange tabby cats facing human hardships, set to meowed versions of Billie Eilish's 'What Was I Made For?'. The videos amassed 942,000+ TikTok posts and 50M+ views on clips of Gen Alpha toddlers sobbing while watching them. The sad cat pipeline goes deep.
Sadness with cat energy: cute, ironic, meme-influenced. πΏ often references the internet's Crying Cat meme. Used for minor disappointments where you want your sadness to be relatable and slightly funny rather than genuinely painful. The cat face is a tonal marker: 'I'm sad, but not in a way that should worry you.'
A family of photoshopped images of cats with glistening, tearful eyes. The original appeared on Meme Generator on June 11, 2014, based on the Serious Cat meme. It was named 'Schmuserkadser' on German image board pr0gramm in 2015. The most popular variation is the Thumbs Up Crying Cat (June 2019), expressing resigned acceptance: sad but giving you a thumbs up anyway.
A variation of the Crying Cat meme showing a cat with teary eyes giving a thumbs up. Created by Redditor IAMAdumbgirl on June 17, 2019. It expresses resigned acceptance: 'I'm sad but I'll pretend everything is fine.' You can recreate it in emoji with ππΏ. The Daily Dot called it the embodiment of 2020 mood before 2020 even happened.
Every Cat Face Mood
What it means from...
πΏ from a crush is soft vulnerability. They're telling you something bummed them out, but the cat face keeps it light. 'I miss you πΏ' or 'You're not coming? πΏ' is a gentle way to say 'I'm disappointed' without the emotional weight of π’. It can be a low-key signal that they want you to reassure them. It's the puppy-dog eyes of emoji, except it's a cat, which somehow makes it work better.
Between friends, πΏ is the go-to for minor disappointments and shared grievances. 'They canceled brunch πΏ' or 'WiFi died during the finale πΏ.' It's sadness you're performing together. The cat face means you're both in on the joke that this isn't real suffering, just the normal indignities of being alive.
In work settings, πΏ is the safest sadness emoji. It's clearly not a distress signal (a manager won't call HR over a crying cat), and its ironic tone signals that whatever went wrong isn't catastrophic. 'Deploy failed πΏ' or 'Meeting got extended πΏ' reads as commiseration, not complaint.
From a stranger online, πΏ signals internet literacy. They know the meme. They're using the cat for emotional distance. It usually means they're reacting to something disappointing in a way that's intentionally cute and non-threatening.
Flirty or friendly?
Not flirty. πΏ has zero romantic subtext. It's ironic sadness, not vulnerability. If a crush sends it, they're being playfully bummed, not seductive. The cat face removes any ambiguity that a human π’ might carry in a dating context.
From a guy, πΏ is playful sadness. He's bummed about something but expressing it through a meme-adjacent cat face to keep things light. 'Can't make it tonight πΏ' or 'They lost πΏ.' It's not emotionally heavy and it's not flirty. It's the safe way to show you're disappointed without being dramatic about it.
Same idea: cute disappointment. A girl sending πΏ is expressing sadness with built-in softness. 'Wish you were here πΏ' reads as gently wistful, not heartbroken. The cat face keeps it in the 'adorable sadness' register. If she's using πΏ instead of π’, she's managing the emotional temperature of the conversation.
Emoji combos
Origin story
πΏ exists because Japanese phone carriers loved cats.
In 2003, au by KDDI added a set of cat face emoji to their proprietary carrier emoji set. When the Unicode Consortium standardized emoji in Unicode 6.0 (2010), they included these cat faces for backwards compatibility with existing Japanese carrier sets. No other animal got this treatment. Dogs got one face (πΆ). Cats got nine: πΊπΈπΉπ»πΌπ½ππΏπΎ.
Each cat face mirrors a human equivalent. πΏ corresponds to π’ (crying face), πΎ to π‘ (pouting face), π» to π (heart eyes). The full set is a cat translation of the human emotional spectrum.
But πΏ had a second origin story that happened independently of Unicode: the Crying Cat meme. On June 11, 2014, an anonymous user posted a photoshopped image of a white cat (based on the earlier Serious Cat meme) with digitally added glistening, teary eyes to Meme Generator. The face was designed to look like a cat on the verge of crying, innocently sad, almost apologetic.
On April 9, 2015, the image appeared on the German image board pr0gramm, where it earned the name 'Schmuserkadser.' Within three years, it had 975 points. On January 27, 2017, Facebook user smokememe posted it with the caption 'sad react only.' Within 18 months: 2,200 reactions, 440 shares. By 2018-2019, the Crying Cat was one of the most recognizable reaction images on the internet.
In June 2019, a Redditor named IAMAdumbgirl created the most durable variation: the Thumbs Up Crying Cat, a photoshopped cat with teary eyes giving a thumbs up. Posted to /r/sadcats on June 17, it became the emoji of resigned acceptance, sadness with compliance. 'Everything is fine ππΏ.' The variation hit /r/dankmemes in late July and accumulated 47,000+ upvotes in three days.
The emoji and the meme are technically separate things, but they're inseparable in practice. πΏ absorbed the Crying Cat meme's DNA. When someone types πΏ, they're channeling both Unicode's 2010 cat face and the internet's 2014 photoshopped tear.
Approved in Unicode 6.0 (2010) as CRYING CAT FACE. Added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015. Part of the 9-emoji cat face set (πΊπΈπΉπ»πΌπ½ππΏπΎ) that mirrors the human smiley set. The cat faces trace back to au by KDDI's 2003 carrier emoji set and were retained in Unicode for backwards compatibility with Japanese mobile platforms.
The 9 cat face emoji and their human equivalents
Design history
- 2003au by KDDI adds cat face emoji to their proprietary Japanese carrier emoji setβ
- 2010Added to Unicode 6.0 as U+1F63F CRYING CAT FACEβ
- 2014The Crying Cat meme is born on Meme Generator (June 11)β
- 2015Named 'Schmuserkadser' on German image board pr0gramm (April 9)β
- 2019Thumbs Up Crying Cat variation created by Redditor IAMAdumbgirl (June 17)β
- 2021Youtooz releases Crying Cat collectible figurine (#34)β
- 2024'Miaw Miaw' AI sad cat trend hits 942K+ TikTok videosβ
Around the world
Global internet culture
πΏ is almost entirely ironic in modern usage. The "Crying Cat" meme (a photo of a cat with photoshopped tears) has made cat-sadness a humor genre. Real cat sadness would use π’ or π with human faces. πΏ is for comedic, exaggerated, or self-deprecating sadness.
Japan
Cat faces carry more literal weight in Japanese culture, where cats are deeply integrated into daily life and art. πΏ may be used more sincerely for actual cat-related sadness (sick cat, lost cat) alongside its ironic Western usage.
A 2024 TikTok trend featuring AI-generated slideshows of an orange tabby cat ('Chubby') facing human hardships, set to AI-meowed versions of Billie Eilish's 'What Was I Made For?'. It spawned 942,000+ TikTok videos. Reaction clips of Gen Alpha toddlers crying while watching gained 50M+ views. Experts flagged it as a form of 'brain rot' content farming.
Cat meme wars: Crying Cat vs Woman Yelling at Cat
Often confused with
π’ is human sadness: can be genuine, heavy, or empathetic. πΏ is cat sadness: ironic, cute, meme-influenced. Same tear, different species, different tone. Use π’ when you need to be taken seriously. Use πΏ when you want sympathy without the weight.
Do's and don'ts
- βUse πΏ for minor disappointments where π’ would feel too heavy
- βLean into the ironic tone: πΏ works best when the sadness is relatable, not tragic
- βUse it as a reaction image stand-in for the Crying Cat meme
- βUse πΏ for actual grief or serious loss (it trivializes the emotion because of its meme associations)
- βAssume everyone knows the Crying Cat meme (some will just read it as a sad cat)
- βUse it in contexts where genuine empathy is needed: 'Sorry about your grandma πΏ' misreads the room
You can, but it won't land as serious. The Crying Cat meme trained a generation to read πΏ as ironic. Sending 'Sorry about your grandmother πΏ' trivializes the grief because the cat face signals 'this is lightweight sadness.' For genuine empathy, use π’ or π or, better yet, actual words.
Caption ideas
Aesthetic sets
Type it as text
Fun facts
- β’The Crying Cat meme was named 'Schmuserkadser' (roughly 'cuddly cat') on the German image board pr0gramm in April 2015, earning 975 points before going global. The German name predates the meme's English-speaking virality by about two years.
- β’Cats got 9 face emoji (πΊπΈπΉπ»πΌπ½ππΏπΎ) because au by KDDI added them to their carrier emoji set in 2003. Dogs got one (πΆ). No other animal in Unicode got a complete emotional spectrum. Japan's neko obsession shaped the global emoji keyboard.
- β’Youtooz released a Crying Cat figurine (#34 in their Meme Collection) in March 2021 for $29.99. A photoshopped cat with fake tears became a physical collectible you can put on your desk.
- β’The Thumbs Up Crying Cat variation, created by Redditor IAMAdumbgirl on June 17, 2019, accumulated 47,000+ upvotes on /r/dankmemes in three days. It's the internet's definitive image of resigned acceptance.
- β’The 2024 'Miaw Miaw' trend spawned 942,000+ TikTok videos of AI sad cats set to meowed Billie Eilish, making Gen Alpha toddlers cry on camera for 50M+ views.
- β’Smudge the Cat, the confused cat behind the salad in the 'Woman Yelling at Cat' meme, gained 1.4 million Instagram followers and a John Cena endorsement. His owner posted the original image to Tumblr in June 2018 with the caption 'He no like vegetals.'
Common misinterpretations
- β’Using πΏ in response to genuinely serious news ('Sorry about the diagnosis πΏ') can come across as dismissive. The meme DNA in πΏ makes it read as lightweight sadness, not deep empathy. Use π’ or words for real grief.
- β’Some people read πΏ as 'my actual cat is sad' rather than 'I am sad, expressed as a cat.' Cat owners occasionally send πΏ literally when their pet looks gloomy. Context usually clarifies.
- β’The Thumbs Up Crying Cat (ππΏ) reads as 'I'm in pain but accepting it' in meme-literate circles, but can confuse people who don't know the specific meme. They'll see optimism (π) followed by sadness (πΏ) and wonder if you're having a mood swing.
In pop culture
- β’The original Crying Cat meme emerged on June 11, 2014, from a photoshopped Serious Cat with digitally added glistening tears. It was named 'Schmuserkadser' on German image board pr0gramm, accumulated 2,200+ Facebook reactions in 2017, and by 2018-2019 had become one of the internet's most reproduced reaction images. Youtooz turned it into a collectible figurine (#34 in their Meme Collection) in March 2021.
- β’The Thumbs Up Crying Cat (June 2019, by Redditor IAMAdumbgirl) became the internet's definitive image of resigned acceptance: 'Everything is terrible, but I'll give you a thumbs up anyway.' The Daily Dot called it 'the embodiment of 2020 mood' before 2020 even happened.
- β’Smudge the Cat from the 'Woman Yelling at Cat' meme became the most famous cat on the internet in 2019, gaining 1.4M Instagram followers, merch, and a John Cena endorsement. The meme peaked at 51 on Google Trends in Q4 2019. TIME profiled Smudge as 'the real star' of the format.
- β’The 2024 'Miaw Miaw' trend used AI to generate slideshows of sad cats set to meowed Billie Eilish, spawning 942,000+ TikTok videos. When clips of Gen Alpha toddlers crying while watching went viral (50M+ views), experts called it the frontier of 'brain rot.' The sad cat outlived the meme format and became a content factory.
Trivia
For developers
- β’πΏ is . Unicode name: CRYING CAT FACE. Common shortcodes: (Slack, Discord, GitHub).
- β’Does not support skin tone modifiers (it's a cat, not a human). No ZWJ sequences apply.
- β’Part of the 9-member cat face emoji subgroup: through plus . All share the same base cat face with different expressions.
au by KDDI, a Japanese mobile carrier, added cat face emoji to their proprietary set in 2003. When Unicode standardized emoji in 2010, they kept the cat faces for backwards compatibility. Each cat mirrors a human equivalent: πΏ = π’, πΎ = π‘, π» = π. Dogs only got one face (πΆ) because no carrier had created a set of dog faces.
See the full Emoji Developer Tools guide for regex patterns, encoding helpers, and more.
When you use πΏ, what kind of sad are you?
Select all that apply
- Crying Cat Emoji (emojipedia.org)
- Crying Cat meme (Know Your Meme) (knowyourmeme.com)
- Thumbs Up Crying Cat (Know Your Meme) (knowyourmeme.com)
- Woman yelling at a cat (Wikipedia) (wikipedia.org)
- Smudge the Cat (TIME) (time.com)
- The History of Cat Emoji (Litter-Robot) (litter-robot.com)
- Thumbs Up Crying Cat origins (Daily Dot) (dailydot.com)
- AI Cat Stories / Sad Meow Meow Song (Know Your Meme) (knowyourmeme.com)
- AI cat stories and Billie Eilish (Daily Dot) (dailydot.com)
- Gen Alpha brain rot and sad cat stories (Screenshot Media) (screenshot-media.com)
- Sad cat meme TikTok trend (Outlook India) (outlookindia.com)
- The sad cat meme: why it works (Technology.org) (technology.org)
- Crying Cat Youtooz figurine (youtooz.com)
- Crying Cat meme origins (PetsCare) (petscare.com)
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