The thumbs down is the internet’s built‑in boo button—perfect for shutting down bad takes, weak sauce ideas, or that microwave lasagna review that lied to you. It screams nope, hard pass, and this ain’t it, chief, and it often shows up in stacks when people are piling on a flop or ratioing a post. In texts, it can be dryly funny—like a gentle roast for a terrible pun—or spicy enough to end a debate. Pair it with 😬, 🤡, or 💀 to add layers: cringe, clownery, or send-it-to-the-shadow-realm energy.
On Apple/iOS, it’s a bright yellow right hand with a compact fist and the thumb folded straight downward, back of hand facing out. The styling is smooth and slightly glossy with rounded edges, subtle knuckle creases, and a tapered wrist; skin-tone options are available if you want a more personal nope. It’s widely used as a quick negative review—zero stars, would not recommend—and as a visual veto in chats, streams, and comment sections (think YouTube dislike vibes, even with hidden counts). Meme-wise, it rides with L + ratio combos and “this ain’t it” replies, and it echoes the pop‑culture gladiator thumbs‑down trope (historically debated, but instantly recognizable). Expect it during patch-note meltdowns, corporate apology posts, or anytime a take lands like a lead balloon.
Definition
A thumbs down sign is used by humans to say everything is not good. A fist with thumb pointing straight down towards the ground. A hand sign for disapproval or no good. I don't like that. Bad. The opposite (antonym) of a thumbs-up sign. Potentially used for centuries by people, such as during the days of the Roman empire and the gladiators in the Colosseum (Coliseum). Audience members and potentially Caesar would use the thumbs down gesture to indicate a bad performance or outcome of an event. A very negative emoji.
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Emoji History The emoji code/ image log of changes.
This emoji was part of the proprietary / non-standardized emoji set first introduced by Japanese carriers like Softbank. These emojis became part of the Apple iPhone starting in iOS 2.2 as an unlockable feature on handsets sold in English speaking countries.
In iOS 5 / OSX 10.7, the underlying code that the Apple OS generates for this emoji was changed.
Emoji General Information
Twitter Emoji Popularity (Rank)
481 of 2393
Apple/iOS Picture
Google Android Picture
Google Hangouts Picture
Twitter.com Picture
LG Emoji Picture
Samsung Emoji Picture
Phantom Open Emoji Picture
Not created yet
ASCII Conversion
"Short Code" Name
:-1:
Keywords
Thumb, Down, Hand, Gesture, No, disapproval, Stop, Boo, Sign
