Hear-No-Evil Monkey 🙉
The 🙉 emoji shows a monkey covering its ears with its hands. It expresses a refusal to listen to something — a criticism, bad news, an unpleasant noise — or a deliberate ignoring of information you'd rather not hear.
Meaning of 🙉
🙉 is used to mean that you're turning a deaf ear, literally or figuratively. It can express a playful refusal to listen to a reproach ("I didn't hear a thing 🙉"), a way of cutting an argument short, or simply the wish to protect yourself from a noise or unpleasant news. Like its two companions 🙈 and 🙊, it often works in a humorous rather than dramatic register: it's used to defuse tension rather than express real distress.
It's also used to mimic strategic ignorance — pretending not to have heard an awkward instruction, a rumor, or a remark you'd rather not acknowledge. This dimension of "deliberate deafness owned with a smile" is what sets 🙉 apart from a simple emoji of annoyance.
Origin & history
Like 🙈 and 🙊, this emoji reuses the traditional motif of the three wise monkeys (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil), an ancient allegory spread notably by the sculpture at the Nikkō shrine in Japan. Unicode built the three primates in together from the earliest generations of emojis, cementing their image as an inseparable trio in digital culture.
How to use it
🙉 is used to deliberately ignore a remark ("did you say something to me? 🙉"), to react to an unbearable noise, or to close a discussion that's going in circles. It often appears in reply to a message you choose not to comment on further. In an informal professional setting, it can defuse a teasing remark between colleagues, but should be avoided in official communication, where it could come across as a lack of consideration.
Popular combos
Music or noise you'd rather ignore or find too loud.
Pretending not to hear a remark, with humor.
The full reference to the trio of wise monkeys.
Frequently asked questions
What does the 🙉 emoji mean?
It represents a monkey covering its ears, used to say that you're deliberately ignoring something or refusing to listen to an unpleasant remark.
Why do the monkeys 🙈🙉🙊 always go together?
They reuse the traditional trio of the "three wise monkeys" (see, hear, say no evil), an image of Asian origin popularized by the Nikkō shrine in Japan.
In what context should 🙉 be used?
Rather in informal exchanges, to humorously ignore a criticism or signal that you don't want to hear some awkward information.