Grinning Face 😀

Usage snapshot:

• Used in content written with the Common script; suitable for UI labels and body text.
• Appears in the Unicode block Emoticons.

History & usage: GRINNING FACE depicts a smiling facial expression. In the name, 'GRINNING' signals the expressive posture; 'FACE' marks the part of the body involved. These name tokens illustrate how orthography uses descriptive terms to signal visible features and intent, while the overall token types in many systems separate expression (descriptor) from the object (face) for clarity and indexing. In typography and reference works, such tokens help scholars discuss how a symbol conveys mood rather than sound. Practical usages follow from its category and block: in dictionaries or grammars that annotate emoji senses, in educational primers teaching emotion icons in digital writing, and in scholarly editions or archival transcription where precise emotional tone must be preserved. If the block ever includes an extended variant, treat it as a historical form; here it does not. Cross‑platform, the character should render as a cheerful face, and accessibility tools should expose its meaning to screen readers.

See our category page for related symbols.

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