;)

What Does ;) Mean?

Meaning of ;)

image for :) showing the winking face emoji

;) is an emoticon that is used to visually represent a winking face. Just as with a real wink, it is typically deployed to add nuance, signaling that the preceding statement should not be taken literally or seriously. It can soften a potentially harsh comment, show flirtiness, or hint at an inside joke.

With the rise of the dedicated 😉 (winking face) emoji, for most generations the vintage ;) emoticon is now seen as a slightly "cheugy" staple from the early days of texting and chat.

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Winking

;) is the old school 😉

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Summary of Key Points

;)
Definition:	Wink
Type:	Emoticon
Guessability:	1: Easy to guess
Typical Users:	Adults, Teenagers, and Under 13s

An Academic Look at ;)

image for academic look, showing a teacher with a mortar board

;) is an old-school emoticon. Emoticons are basically the OG emojis — little faces made from keyboard symbols. They let you show vibes and feelings in text, like happy, sad, or annoyed, without using actual pictures. Just a few characters (letters, numbers, or symbols from a standard keyboard) are used to make a mini-illustration of the mood you're trying to send.

Emoticons have largely been made redundant on most messaging apps, as users now have access to emojis and many emoticons are automatically replaced with the corresponding emoji. However, many people still use them when they're in a hurry or want to give a message an old school vibe.