The 'tears of joy' emoji was the most-used of 2021

3d rendering of laughing tears emoji faces.
(Image credit: D3signAllTheThings/iStock)

The most-used emoji of 2021 was the "tears of joy" emoji, The New York Times reports, according to data from the Unicode Consortium. The red heart emoji came in at No.2.

Nine of the 10 most used emojis from 2019 — the last time the consortium released data — also ranked among this year's top 10, writes the Times. And notably, even with Gen Z recently deciding it uncool, the "tears of joy" icon triumphed.

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Brigid Kennedy

Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.