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🪳

cockroach

Cockroach

🪳 means a cockroach, an unpleasant pest, or something that won't go away. The roach emoji accompanies pest complaints and disgust, but also jokes about surviving a rough week: still scuttling. Aimed at someone else, it can mean “you're disgusting” or “you're unwanted.”

EmojiSince 2020
Also called
roach
Search it as
roach emoji · bug emoji
Type it as
:cockroach:
Around since
2020 · Emoji 13.0
Shows up on
Every phone · iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, Linux

What 🪳 means

A literal pest, disgust, or stubborn survival.

This bug emoji can flag a kitchen sighting or a problem you can't get rid of. Applied to yourself after an exhausting week, it makes endurance the joke: not glamorous, but still here.

Is 🪳 an insult?

It can be, especially when aimed at a person.

Calling someone a cockroach can paint them as filthy, annoying or unwanted. A shared survival joke may soften that, but don't assume they'll hear a compliment. If you receive 🪳 alone, ask what they meant before firing one back.

Why does 🪳 look different across apps?

Different artwork, same cockroach.

In 2026, Facebook and WhatsApp artwork showed a side view, while other designs looked down on the insect. The side view can feel more like something scurrying across your floor; it doesn't encode a different message.

Disgust is built into the joke; self-mockery is safer than labelling someone else.

Avoid using 🪳 about a coworker's behaviour: it can sound contemptuous.

What it means when someone sends it to you

3 readings
After "I found one in the kitchen"
A literal cockroach or household pest problem.
After "I survived that week"
Self-mocking resilience: still functioning despite the chaos.
Placed after a person's name
Potential insult: dirty, pest-like or unwanted.

Don't confuse it with

3
🪲
Beetle
Beetle: look for a rounded shell with a central division, rather than the cockroach's elongated body.
🐛
Bug
Bug: a caterpillar-like larva, not the flat-bodied household roach.
🦗
Cricket
Cricket: look for the long hind legs rather than the cockroach's flatter outline.

Combination ideas

3
Stomping the roach, literally or metaphorically.
Suggested: a cockroach sighting plus intense disgust.
Suggested self-description: battered, but still standing.

Worth knowing

  • 🪳 is a single code point, so it survives copying through almost anything — old databases, SMS gateways, printer drivers.

Questions people ask

1

Why does 🪳 look different on other phones?

Every platform draws its own artwork for the same code point. The character you send is identical; Apple, Google, Samsung and WhatsApp each render it in their own style.

How to type 🪳

Windows
Win+.Open the emoji picker and search “cockroach”.
macOS
Control+Command+Spaceopens the character viewer.
iOS / Android
Emoji keyboard → search “cockroach”.
Chat apps
:cockroach:the common shortcode; support varies by platform.
HTML
🪳
Codes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
🪳
HTML hex
🪳
CSS content
content: "\1FAB3";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%F0%9F%AA%B3
1
On screen
1
Code points
2
JS .length
4
UTF-8 bytes

A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.

Families this belongs to

1

Animals & nature145 symbols

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