Heart Eyes 😍 Emoji Meaning: Is It Always Flirty?

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Plus, the best ways to reply to 😍 if you want to flirt (or not)

Co-authored by Candace Gasper and Dan Hickey

Last Updated: September 8, 2025 Fact Checked

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What does 😍 mean?

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How to Reply

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Related Emojis

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Description

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You’ve probably seen the heart eyes 😍 emoji in a million places by now, but what does it actually mean? In this article, we’ll show you all the ways the 😍 emoji is used, plus the best ways to reply to it (depending on how flirty you want to get). Keep scrolling to learn more!

Heart Eyes 😍 Emoji Overview

The heart eyes 😍 emoji symbolizes love, infatuation, and adoration. It’s used to show affection for people or things in either a romantic or platonic way. For example, “Can’t wait to see you 😍” from a girl or guy has flirty undertones, while “I just ordered chicken tenders 😍” shows playful enthusiasm.

Section 1 of 4:

What does the heart eyes 😍 emoji mean?

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The heart eyes 😍 emoji means enthusiastic love, infatuation, or adoration. Just look at those eyes! The 😍 emoji symbolizes sweet, romantic, or fuzzy feelings toward other people, pets, or anything else you love. The giant, heart-shaped eyes show that you’re totally obsessed, infatuated with, or in love with something (or someone!).^{[1]
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- “Can’t wait to see you later, hubby 😍”
- “Just look at this litter of baby puppies! 😍🐶”
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The 😍 emoji from a girl or guy can also mean they have a crush on you. If you receive a 😍 emoji from a guy or from a girl, it could definitely be a sign that they’re into you! It shows that they think really sweetly, lovingly, or positively of you—and they want you to notice.
- “Hey! I really liked the sweater you wore to class today 😍”
- You: “Thanks again for helping me set up my yard sale this morning!”
  Them: “Of course! Happy to help you out any time 😍”
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The 😍 emoji can also be a sign of platonic excitement or enthusiasm. Of course, the 😍 emoji isn’t always romantic. It can also be a sign of friendly enthusiasm or excitement about any person, place, or thing. Think of it as a symbol of extreme positivity.^{[2]
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- “Straight As this semester! Who knew studying works? 😍😍😍”
- “The city just approved more bike lanes on Main Street! 😍”
- How can you tell if 😍 is romantic or not? Check the context of the message to be sure. If someone is replying to a specific message or idea with 😍, they’re probably just showing platonic support. But if they send it in a message about you, they might just have some feelings!

Section 2 of 4:

How to Reply to the Heart Eyes 😍 Emoji

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Reply with 😍 to show you’re on the same page. If someone sends you a 😍 emoji (as a reply to one of your messages or in a new message), send back another 😍 emoji to show that you feel the same way they do about whatever you’re discussing. You can also use another emoji like a heart ❤️ or kissing heart face 😘 in romantic or flirty contexts. For example:
- If someone sends “Tonight is spaghetti night 😍” and you reply with “😍”, it shows that you’re both excited about spaghetti! However, if they say “Tonight is spaghetti night. Can’t wait to see you 😍” and you reply with “😍” or “❤️”, it shows you’re both excited about seeing each other in a romantic way.
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Keep flirting over text if you suspect they have a crush on you. If someone sends you a 😍 emoji in a flirty context (AKA, a message about you or your relationship with the person) and you’re interested in them, keep flirting over text to see where things go! You could respond with another romantic emoji, a compliment, a joke, or even a funny meme or GIF that you know will make the other person laugh. Go with whatever feels right and lighthearted!
- Them: “It was great running into you this afternoon 😍”
  You: “Agreed! We’ll have to accidentally bump into each other again soon 😉”
- Them: “Heard you were the life of the party last night! Why am I not surprised? 😍”
  You: “The only thing that could’ve distracted me last night was you 😍”
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Or, reply to 😍 with a platonic message if you’re not interested. If you suspect someone is sending 😍 to flirt with you but you’d rather keep things friendly, reply with a kind but platonic message to be nice without leading them on. You could change the subject, continue chatting as if you didn’t notice the emoji, refer to yourselves as friends, or, if the flirty texts keep coming, kindly mention that you’d prefer to keep things platonic.
- Them: “Will I see you at Jen’s party later? 😍”
  You: “Yeah, I’m going to stop by for a bit. Did you hear that storm last night? Wild!”
- Them: “Hey! Long time no see 😍”
  You: “I know, work’s been awful. I need more friend time!”

Section 3 of 4:

Related Emojis

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Smiling cat with heart eyes 😻 The 😻 emoji is a playful animal version of the standard heart eyes emoji. It generally means the same things as the regular 😍 emoji, but less romantic (it’s usually interpreted as being more lighthearted, jokey, or just plain silly). It’s also purr-fect for showing your love and affection for pets and animals!^{[3]
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- “We’re adopting a new fur baby today 😻”
- “Good luck on your exam today, I know you’ll nail it! 😻”
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Star-struck face 🤩 The star-struck face resembles the 😍 emoji, only with cartoon stars for eyes and a toothier smile. Instead of romantic love or adoration, it represents seeing someone or something that’s fascinating, amazing, impressive, or awe-inspiring (like a celebrity or world-famous work of art).^{[4]
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- “I’m ready to creep on the red carpet 🤩📸”
- “You were AMAZING in the musical last night! 🤩”
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Smiling face with hearts 🥰 This lovey-dovey emoji features the same smile, blushing cheeks, and closed eyes as the smiling face ☺️ emoji with several hearts floating around it. It represents a range of happy feelings, from warm affection to being in love.^{[5]
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Research source} It’s like a less intense version of the 😍 emoji.
- “Hope you have a wonderful day today 🥰”
- So good to see you last night! Can’t wait to do it again soon 🥰”
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Emoticons like (,,♡ᵕ♡,,) Emoticons are punctuation marks, letters, and numbers used to create “images” that show an emotion or sentiment (they predate emojis, which are actual images).^{[6]
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Research source} Here are a few that resemble the 😍 emoji if you prefer a more aesthetic approach to your messages:
- (,,♡ᵕ♡,,)
- ♡〰♡
- ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡
- (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈)
- (♡‿♡)
- (♡ヮ♡)
- ( ˘ᵕ ˘♡)

Section 4 of 4:

Heart Eyes 😍 Emoji Description, Platforms & History

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The heart eyes emoji shows an open-mouth, smiling face with hearts for eyes. Depending on the platform, the smile may sometimes show teeth. The heart-shaped eyes are red and cartoon-styled—perfect for an emoji that’s all about lighthearted infatuation and love! The 😍 emoji is currently available on Apple iOS and Google Android operating systems, Windows and macOS desktop systems, all major social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, TikTok, etc.), and most messaging platforms (WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Slack, etc.).
- The 😍 emoji was approved by the Unicode Consortium as part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010 as “smiley face with heart-shaped eyes.”^{[7]
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  Research source} It was added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015.
- Copy & paste the emoji here: 😍