What the Wilted Flower Emoji 🥀 Means & How It Became a Meme

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Plus, when to use the 🥀 emoji in texts & captions

Co-authored by Dan Hickey Reviewed by Candace Gasper

Last Updated: October 15, 2025 Fact Checked

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Meanings & Uses

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Meme & Popularity

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Wilted Flower Symbolism

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Have you been seeing the wilted flower 🥀 emoji all over social media lately? This melancholy emoji represents sadness or heartbreak, but it’s also become part of a popular meme trend on TikTok. In this article, we’ll explain exactly what the dead rose emoji means, how to use it in your texts and captions, and how it became a viral meme trend on TikTok. Keep scrolling to learn more!

Wilted Flower 🥀 Emoji Overview

The 🥀 emoji shows a droopy, dying flower with falling petals. It represents sad feelings, heartbreak, a lack of energy, loss, and the passing of time. It became extra popular in February 2025 when TikTokers began sharing videos saying the heartbreak 💔 emoji was overused and encouraging others to use 🥀 instead.

Section 1 of 4:

Wilted Flower 🥀 Emoji Description

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The wilted flower 🥀 emoji shows a droopy red flower that’s dead or dying. The stem bends to one side and the faded flower faces downward due to a lack of sunlight, water, or care. Most platforms include a falling petal to show the flower’s continuing decay.^{[1]
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- Copy & paste the wilted flower emoji here: 🥀
- Most platforms (Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Samsung, Microsoft, JoyPixels, and OpenMoji) show a red flower or rose dropping to the right.
- WhatsApp and Emojidex show an orange-yellow flower drooping to the left.

Section 2 of 4:

Wilted Flower 🥀 Emoji Meanings & Uses

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Sadness or disappointment On a superficial level, the droopy 🥀 emoji represents sadness, despair, or melancholy feelings. Use it in texts or social media posts to show that you’re feeling down or deflated about something (but remember, wilted flowers—and you—can be revived with a little TLC!).^{[2]
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- “Just my luck! Another rainy day to ruin my mood 🥀⛈️”
- “I don’t want to watch Titanic again, the ending is so sad! 🥀😭”
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Heartbreak or unrequited love On a deeper level, the 🥀 emoji can symbolize a relationship that didn’t work out, a sad breakup, or an unrequited love that never came to be (what a poetic emoji!).^{[3]
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Research source} This is especially likely if you see this emoji from a girl or guy you knew was seeing someone. If you want to post something about your breakup or lost love without giving away too many details, add the 🥀 emoji to show your general feelings.
- “Not everything is meant to last 🥀”
- “I should have told him sooner, but now it’s too late 🥀”
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A lack of energy or vitality If you’ve been running yourself ragged lately, you might feel like a wilting flower yourself—low-energy and in desperate need of some self-care! Share the wilted flower emoji to let the world know you need a break and it’s time to recharge.^{[4]
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- “No way I’m going out tonight, I need a night in to crash 🥀”
- “Ugh I’ve been sick all week! 🥀 Hopefully I’ll feel more energetic soon”
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Death and loss, decay, endings, or the passing of time Flowers live and die, just like all other plants and creatures. Use the 🥀 emoji to represent the cycle of life or the end of an era, whether you’re posting about the death of a loved one, the changing of the seasons, or the closing of a chapter in your life. Of course, it can also represent literal dead plants you see in your garden, too.^{[5]
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- “RIP Grandpa 🥀😢 You’ll be with us forever! ❤️”
- “Winter is coming 🥀🥶 I need to move somewhere warmer…”
- “Saw a dying rose bush today 🥀 Someone needs to water that thing soon!”

Section 3 of 4:

Wilted Flower 🥀 Emoji Meme & Popularity

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TikTokers replaced the broken heart 💔 emoji with the 🥀emoji. In February 2025, creator @ybgtway posted this video including the words “💔 lowkey starting to become too mainstream. I might just start using 🥀.” The video (and others like it) jokingly pointed out that the 💔 emoji was overused and seemed too corny or performative. Soon after, other creators got in on the joke and started posting their own similar videos, with some lightheartedly pointing blame at certain groups or fandoms for overusing the 💔 emoji.^{[6]
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Research source} For example:
- Creator @zane2low posted a similar video saying “💔 has gone mainstream and Dandy's World players have been using it,” poking fun at people who play the Roblox game Dandy’s World.
- A few days later, @dariusthegoat5 shared a video saying “Attention everyone! 💔 has officially become mainstream… We will now be using 🥀🥀.”
- TikTok users also point to old clips of the late rapper XXXTentacion, saying that fans use emojis like 💔 and 🥀 too often, making the emojis seem performative or mainstream.
As “news” of the switch from 💔 to 🥀 spread online, TikTokers began adding more emoji options to use in case the latest one became too cringe or overused. For example, creator @p4st3l_p0sh posted a video saying “We are now moving to 🥀 / And if that fails we move to 🪫 / And worst case scenario 🍂,” listing the low battery 🪫 and fallen leaves 🍂 emojis as backups to the 🥀 emoji in case it goes out of fashion.^{[7]
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Section 4 of 4:

What does a wilted flower symbolize?

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Wilted flowers symbolize time passing, the fading of beauty, and sadness. Spiritually, a wilting or dying flower represents impermanence—nobody stays young and beautiful forever and nobody is immune from the forward march of time. In art and literature, wilting flowers can also represent feelings of nostalgia or melancholy, hinting at a past that was more joyous or energetic.^{[8]
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- Wilting flowers can also be a spiritual reminder to be more present and show gratitude for what you have now.

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The 🥀 emoji was approved for Unicode 9.0 in 2016 and added to Emoji 3.0 in 2016.

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Related emojis include 🙁 (frown), 🌹 (rose), ☹️ (big frown), 😢 (crying), 😞 (sad), 💔 (broken heart), 🖤 (black heart), and 😭 (loudly crying).

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