Marie Claire UK Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Women in Sport 2026
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Spring Summer 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    • Digital Issues
    • Women Who Win
    1. Culture
    2. Technology

    Stop everything! Here's what each heart emoji really means

    This will change the face of love forever

    By Marie Claire
    Published 11 December 2018 In Features

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    Is your instagram making you jealous
    (Image credit: Getty)
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    This will change the face of love forever...

    You can tell a lot about someone from how they emoji, and FYI, we WILL stop texting you back if you use loads of the laughing with tears faces.

    And what with love being a funny ol’ thing for us to express, our emotionally repressed British ways were given a little helping hand when the emoji keyboard gave us an array of hearts.

    But what does each heart actually mean? Have we been sending the right ones all this time, or are we actually telling our dearly beloved we love them in the same way we do that cat which wanders into our flat sometimes?

    Thankfully, Wired conducted an emoji heart study to find out what each one means, delving into the depths of Instagram to see which messages the various emoji hearts are communicating.

    You may like
    • Obsession is a 2025 American supernatural psychological horror film The Horror of Having a Crush in the Social Media Age
    • AI Edited My Face Without Asking: Side by side comparison of my face before and after inputting into AI I Asked AI to Add a Dog to My Photo. What It Did to My Face Left Me Unsettled
    • Dua Lipa attends the wedding Of Simon Porte Jacquemus And Marco Maestri Did Dua Lipa Use Astrology to Plan Her Wedding? Here's Why the Internet Thinks So

    The blue heart 💙

    This one can express a variety of interests. While it’s used to show support for Autism Awareness, love for water sports and to show solidarity for sports teams that wear blue, it’s also the heart of choice for people on Insta who are sharing their BDSM preferences. Um, niche.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    The green heart 💚

    Greeny is most commonly used around St. Patrick’s Day, and people who are into their organic vegetables keep the emoji alive throughout the year when they’re posting all their healthy food choices.

    The yellow heart 💛

    What to read next
    • Kinda Chic Trend Is "Kinda Chic" Kinda Cringe? Everyone's Favourite Fashion Word Just Went Completely Out of Fashion
    • Jenny Lai Luxury Shoppers Put This One Thing Above All Else When Spending Their Money—And It’s Not What You Think
    • Meta Glasses The Internet Is Furious Over Meta’s AI Glasses but Sales Are Booming—We Looked at Why People, Women in Particular, Are Worried

    Mellow yellow just radiates pure love. It’s sunshine, flowers and total connection.

    The purple heart 💜

    This is the most glam heart and often used by fashionistas who are showing of their outfits and tag words like ‘sparkle’ and ‘shimmer’. It’s like the Mariah Carey of the heart emoji.

    The pink starry heart 💖

    This is commonly used by people who are after more follows, making it the Desperado of the heart emoji world.

    The triple heart 💗

    The three hearts overlaid is the go-to for ladies who are feeling body positive, and often comes alongside the tags #curvy and #peachy

    Heart on the envelope 💌

    Now this one is disappointing, as it’s mainly used for when people have made an in app purchase. Who said romance was dead?

    Well there you have it.

    Marie Claire
    Social Links Navigation

    The leading destination for fashion, beauty, shopping and finger-on-the-pulse views on the latest issues. Marie Claire's travel content helps you delight in discovering new destinations around the globe, offering a unique – and sometimes unchartered – travel experience. From new hotel openings to the destinations tipped to take over our travel calendars, this iconic name has it covered.

    Read more
    Obsession is a 2025 American supernatural psychological horror film
    Life The Horror of Having a Crush in the Social Media Age
    AI Edited My Face Without Asking: Side by side comparison of my face before and after inputting into AI
    Life I Asked AI to Add a Dog to My Photo. What It Did to My Face Left Me Unsettled
     
     
    Dua Lipa attends the wedding Of Simon Porte Jacquemus And Marco Maestri
    Relationships Did Dua Lipa Use Astrology to Plan Her Wedding? Here's Why the Internet Thinks So
    Kinda Chic Trend
    Shopping Is "Kinda Chic" Kinda Cringe? Everyone's Favourite Fashion Word Just Went Completely Out of Fashion
     
     
    Latest in Technology
    The Volvo EX60 - a true masterclass in design and an impressive leap for electric vehicles
    Technology Volvo’s Best-Selling Car Just Got an EV Upgrade—Why the EX60 May Just Convince You to Switch to Electric
    In a scene of mutual fascination, an indigenous mother and daughter bond over an intriguing discovery on a phone screen, deepening their connection through shared curiosity.
    Technology How to navigate your child's first phone without the door-slamming drama
     
     
    A woman uses EE technology
    Technology Three Ways To Enhance Your Children’s Learning With Technology
    Huawei nova 13
    Technology HUAWEI nova 13 Series are an accessory in their own right and come with some impressive features for creators
     
     
    Latest in Features
    The Beauty Digest
    Beauty The Beauty Digest: Head Spas, Coco Mademoiselle Reimagined, and What the TPO Ban Really Means
    The long hair trend and the post-bob era
    Hair I’ve Spent Two Years Growing My Bob—Turns Out, There's a Reason Long Hair Is Trending
     
     
    @nlmarilyn in transitional autumn outfits
    Fashion Goodbye Summer Dresses, I'm in Autumn Outfit Planning Mode—These 5 Are Fresh
    AW26 denim trends listing
    Fashion Autumn's Denim Trends Are Already Surfacing—Here Are the Cuts, Colours and Details to Know Now
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.