Smiley FacesSleep and Goodnight Emoji: What Each One Means
The most common way to say goodnight in emoji is 😴 Sleeping Face or 💤 ZZZ, often paired with a moon like 🌙. But the sleep emoji are not all the same: some mean "I'm going to bed", some mean "I'm bored", and one that looks like it's crying is actually just very sleepy. Here is how to tell them apart.
The sleepy faces
😴 Sleeping Face (U+1F634)
A face with closed eyes, often with a "Zzz" drawn beside it. It arrived in Unicode 6.1 in 2012. It means "asleep" or "about to fall asleep", so it works as a goodnight. It's also used to say something is boring: "Another three-hour meeting 😴."
😪 Sleepy Face (U+1F62A)
This one confuses people. It shows a face with a droplet or bubble near its nose, and many assume it's a tear. In fact the bubble comes from Japanese manga and anime, where a snot bubble on a character's nose shows they are asleep or dozing. So 😪 really means "tired" or "nodding off". It was added in Unicode 6.0 in 2010. Some people do use it for sadness, so if you want to be clear, 😴 is the safer choice for bedtime.
🥱 Yawning Face (U+1F971)
A face mid-yawn, often with a hand over the mouth. It's newer than the others, added in Unicode 12.0 in 2019. It means "tired" but also, quite often, "this is boring". Use it carefully in reply to someone's story.
😫 Tired Face and 😩 Weary Face
😫 Tired Face (U+1F62B) and 😩 Weary Face (U+1F629), both Unicode 6.0, are less about sleep and more about being worn out or fed up. They suit "what a long day" better than a peaceful goodnight.
Sleep symbols
| Emoji | Official name | Code point | Unicode version |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💤 | ZZZ | U+1F4A4 | 6.0 (2010) |
| 🛌 | Person in Bed | U+1F6CC | 7.0 (2014) |
| 🛏️ | Bed | U+1F6CF | 7.0 (2014) |
| 🌙 | Crescent Moon | U+1F319 | 6.0 (2010) |
| 🌛 | First Quarter Moon Face | U+1F31B | 6.0 (2010) |
| 🌜 | Last Quarter Moon Face | U+1F31C | 6.0 (2010) |
| 🌃 | Night with Stars | U+1F303 | 6.0 (2010) |
| ⭐ | Star | U+2B50 | 5.1 (2008) |
| ✨ | Sparkles | U+2728 | 6.0 (2010) |
💤 is the cartoon "Zzz" and is used on its own as a goodnight, or after another emoji to add sleepiness. 🛌 says "I'm in bed now", which is handy at the end of a conversation. The moons and stars give a softer, dreamier tone.
Popular goodnight combinations
Emoji combinations are informal, so there's no single correct version, but these are easy to read:
- 😴💤: "Going to sleep now."
- 🌙✨: a gentle, sweet goodnight.
- 🛌💤: "In bed, lights out."
- 🥱😴: "So tired, falling asleep."
- 🌛⭐: a cosy, storybook-style goodnight, nice for kids or partners.
Animated goodnight smileys
On forums and message boards, an animated smiley makes a friendly sign-off. Our night smiley wears a nightcap under a crescent moon, with Zs floating up as it dozes. It's the clearest way to say "I'm off to bed, see you tomorrow" at the end of a long thread.
If you want something gentler, the halo smiley with its closed-eye smile has a peaceful, sleepy feel.
And if you're so exhausted that someone will have to carry you to bed, the stretcher smiley, with two smileys carrying a third, says it with a laugh.
Sleep emoji that can backfire
- 🥱 or 😴 in reply to someone's message can read as "you're boring me". If a friend is telling you something important, use words instead.
- 😪 for sadness may be read as "tired" by people who know the manga meaning, so pick 😢 Crying Face if you mean sad.
- A goodnight at 3 pm might be a joke about being bored, not an actual bedtime. Context matters.
Weather and night emoji
Many bedtime emoji live in the sky section of the emoji keyboard alongside the weather. If you like the moon and stars, our guide to weather emoji covers the sun, clouds, rain and snow in the same detail, with official names and code points.