uwu

UwU is a text emoticon of a cute, happy face: the two u’s are closed eyes and the w is a little mouth. People use it to show warmth, affection or happiness, and sometimes to be deliberately, cringily cute.

What UwU means

Typing “uwu” after a message adds a soft, adorable tone, a bit like a smiley but cuter. It can be sincere (“thank you for the gift uwu”), playful, or ironic. There’s also a whole joke style called “uwu speak,” where people replace r’s and l’s with w’s (“hewwo, how awe you?”) to sound exaggeratedly cute.

Examples

• “You remembered my birthday uwu”
• “Got a new plushie today uwu”
• “OwO what’s this?” (a related surprised face)
• “Please stop talking in uwu speak, I’m begging you.”

UwU vs. OwO

UwU is a happy, content face. OwO has wide-open eyes and usually signals surprise or curiosity. Both are popular in anime fandoms, furry communities and gaming chats, and both are often used ironically.

Is UwU cringe?

To some people, yes, and that’s part of the joke. It’s associated with “extremely online” corners of the internet, so using it sincerely in a formal setting would be odd. Among friends, it’s just a cute emoticon.

Where UwU comes from

The exact origin is unknown. Wikipedia traces an early use to an artist’s post on an art site in April 2000, while Know Your Meme points to a 2005 fan fiction as the first proven use. Dictionary.com links it to Japanese-style text faces and notes that a March 2018 tweet from actor Mark Hamill brought it wide attention.

Related terms

• Kawaii: cute.
• Soft girl: pastels and cute details.
• LOL: laughing out loud.
• Cringe: embarrassing to watch.

Explore more in our anime slang dictionary.