30 Kaomoji Faces and How to Use Them in Your Bio
By Stylish Name Team · Updated · 5 min read
Emoji are pictures that every platform draws in its own way. Kaomoji are different: they are faces made from ordinary text characters, which is why the same face looks the same on every device. They come from Japanese internet culture, where they were developed in the 1980s and 90s on early bulletin boards. The word kaomoji (顔文字) simply means "face characters".
Unlike Western emoticons such as :-), kaomoji are read upright, not sideways, and often use symbols from Japanese, Greek or mathematical character sets. That is what makes them look so expressive.
How they work
A kaomoji is a short string of characters arranged to look like a face, often with arms or small decorations. It's normal text, so you can paste it anywhere text is accepted: bios, display names, captions, chat messages.
For example:
- (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) is a shy, happy face
- (⌐■_■) is a face with sunglasses
- (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ is the famous table flip
The characters inside them come from many Unicode blocks, so some devices may show a box in place of a rare character. That's the main thing to test.
30 kaomoji to copy
Happy and sweet
- (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)
- (◕‿◕)
- (｡♥‿♥｡)
- ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ
- (✿◠‿◠)
- ( ˘▽˘)っ♨
Shy and soft
- (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)
- (〃´𓎟`〃)
- (つ﹏⊂)
- (๑•́ ₃ •̀๑)
- (⸝⸝> ᴗ •⸝⸝)
Cool and sassy
- (⌐■_■)
- (¬‿¬)
- ( •_•)>⌐■-■
- (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞
- ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
Silly and chaotic
- (ノ°ο°)ノ
- ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
- ┬─┬ノ( º _ ºノ)
- (•_•) ( •_•)>⌐■-■ (⌐■_■)
Sad and dramatic
- (╥﹏╥)
- (ಥ_ಥ)
- (っ- ‸ – ς)
- (；д；)
Animals and objects
- ଲ(ⓛ ω ⓛ)ଲ
- (=^･ω･^=)
- ʕ ᵔᴥᵔ ʔ
- ₍ᐢ•ﻌ•ᐢ₎
- ♪ ♬ ヽ(•‿•)ノ
Some of these use rare characters. If one shows as boxes on your phone, skip it. The Coquette / Soft and Y2K / Cyber pages include kaomoji styles around your name, so you can see them paired with a font.
Where kaomoji work
Bios. At the end of a line, a kaomoji sets the tone. "soft hours only (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)" says more than a paragraph.
Display names. A small face beside a name, such as 𝓶𝓲𝓶𝓲 (◕‿◕), is a popular soft-girl move. Check the character limit, because kaomoji are long.
Messenger statuses. WhatsApp About lines love them. See the guide to WhatsApp About and status text.
Captions and comments. Great for reactions.
Game nicknames. Rarely. Most games filter the unusual characters.
Matching faces to aesthetics
| Aesthetic | Faces that fit |
|---|---|
| Coquette, soft | (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶), (｡♥‿♥｡), ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ |
| Cottagecore | (=^･ω･^=), (✿◠‿◠) |
| Y2K, cyber | (⌐■_■), ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ |
| Meme, funny | ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ |
| Dark, moody | (╥﹏╥), (ಥ_ಥ) |
The earlier posts on coquette aesthetic names and Y2K aesthetic names show how these faces fit into a whole profile.
Practical tips
Use one. A bio with five faces looks frantic.
Count characters. Kaomoji can use 8 to 15 characters or more, and some of those count as double.
Check backslashes. A face with a backslash, like the shrug, can be altered by apps that treat backslash as a special character. If part of it disappears, try a version without the backslash.
Test on another device. Rare characters are the usual cause of boxes. See why stylish text shows boxes.
Avoid screen-reader noise. Assistive tools read each character, so a long kaomoji can take a while. Put the main message in plain text.
Making your own
Kaomoji are built from three parts: the eyes, the mouth, and the outline. Swap each piece to change the mood. For example, ( ˘ ³˘) uses a closed-eye shape for a kiss. If you create something you like, you can keep it in your notes or the saved styles list.
How they differ from emoji
Emoji are standardised pictures, so the meaning is the same but the look differs between Apple, Google and Samsung. Kaomoji are text, so the look is the same but the characters may not render everywhere. They can also carry a more personal and quirky feel. Many people use both: an emoji for a quick tone and a kaomoji for personality.
Using kaomoji without clutter
A kaomoji is long compared with an emoji, so it takes up more of your character count and more of the reader's attention. Treat it as punctuation. One at the end of a line is a flourish; one at the end of every line is a tic. The most effective placement is at the very end of the bio, after the last piece of real information, where it works like a smile after a sentence.
Writing a bio around a face
Instead of adding a kaomoji to an existing bio, you can let the face drive the tone. Start with the mood you want, such as shy, smug or tired, choose the face that matches it and then write a line that fits. For a shy mood: "mostly reading, occasionally brave (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)". For a smug mood: "yes, I did read the instructions (⌐■_■)". For a tired mood: "running on tea and optimism (╥﹏╥)". The face tells the reader how to take the sentence, which is exactly why kaomoji work.
Making sure it survives
Kaomoji draw on characters from a wide range of Unicode blocks, which is why they sometimes break. Before you commit, paste it into a notes app on your phone and on a second device if possible. If any part turns into a box, replace that character or choose a different face. Avoid faces with a backslash if you will be pasting into Discord or other apps that treat it as an escape character. And keep a plain-text fallback line in the bio for anyone whose device cannot show the face.
Where to keep your favourites
Put the faces you like in a note on your phone, grouped by mood. Some keyboards also let you add them as shortcuts. This avoids hunting through lists each time, and it lets you test once on your device so you know the ones in the note will always display.
Final thought
Kaomoji are best as seasoning. A single face at the end of a bio line can do more than a pile of emoji. Test it, keep it small, and keep your actual information in plain words.