The party emoji people use most (and what each one means)
Partying Face is the one people mean when they type "party emoji face": a grin, a cone hat and a party blower, added in 2018 with Emoji 11.0. It says "we're celebrating" about anything from a promotion to a Friday. Party Popper is older, from the original 2010 emoji set, and is the all-purpose "hooray" (its shortcode on Slack, Discord and GitHub is :tada:). Confetti Ball is its quieter sibling: a decorative ball that splits open and showers confetti and streamers, used for announcements and wins.
Balloon says a party is happening, Piñata (2020) says it is a fiesta or a kids' party, and Bottle with Popping Cork with Clinking Glasses say the toast is being made. The Mirror Ball, approved in 2022 with Emoji 15.0, has become the emoji for nightlife itself: disco, clubs, a retro aesthetic, or simply "tonight we go out". A face plus a popper plus a disco ball, , is a complete party invitation with no words.
Dance emoji: and the man in the suit
Woman Dancing was simply called Dancer when it arrived in 2010; most platforms draw her in a red dress mid-flamenco, so she carries confidence, celebration and "I'm going out" in one picture. Man Dancing joined in 2016 with Emoji 9.0, striking a Saturday-Night-Fever disco pose in a purple suit. Together, , they are the standard dance emoji combo and read as "let's dance" or "party time".
People with Bunny Ears came from the Japanese carrier emoji as two bunny-eared showgirls dancing in step; today it means best friends, twinning, a girls' night or a group dance. Gendered versions arrived in 2016, and Emoji 17.0 (September 2025) added skin-tone pairs built by joining two people with a , such as Men with Bunny Ears. Person in Suit Levitating looks like a dancer because he is one: the 2014 emoji copies the Webdings "exclamation mark man", itself drawn from the rude-boy logo of 2 Tone ska records. People use him for feeling cool, floating above it all, or a ska and mod night. For the stage, Ballet Dancer (new in Emoji 17.0, so still a box on older phones) and Ballet Shoes.
Party emoji combos for invites, club nights and captions
A good party combo is three to five emoji that answer what, where and how loud. An invite: or . A club night: . A house party: . A pool party: . A pre-drinks message: or . The morning after: . Dance-floor energy comes from the hands as much as the faces: raising hands for "hands up", for the beat drop, for rock and metal, for "call me, we're out".
For Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp statuses people often want an aesthetic party emoji combo rather than a loud one: , , or a line framed with text symbols, like ･ﾟ party tonight ･ﾟ or . On iPhone and Android the fastest way to find all of these is to type "party", "dance" or "disco" into the emoji keyboard's search field.
Night out emoji: music, DJ booth, drinks and the dress code
The DJ booth has its own kit: Headphone, Level Slider, Control Knobs, CD and Speaker High Volume, with for the music and for karaoke or a live set. A live band is , a Latin or Afrobeat night Long Drum and Maracas (the newest instrument, 2022). The venue can be Night with Stars or Bridge at Night for the city after dark, a lantern-lit street party, a fair or festival, a theatre or masquerade, a games, casino, bowling or roller-disco night.
Drinks cover every kind of guest: champagne, and for the toast, by taste, pouring the shots, ice, and for the designated driver or a kids' party, next to on the snack table. Getting ready is its own genre of message: for the outfit, for the nails, for the look. For a birthday party specifically, see the Birthday Emoji collection; for wins and announcements, Congratulations Emoji; for the full instrument list, Music Emoji.
Text symbols for party captions: stars, notes and confetti
Besides the colour emoji there is a set of plain text symbols that party captions and usernames are built from. The music notes have been in Unicode since 1993 and show on every device. The stars frame a line ( tonight ), and the dingbat asterisks look like bursts of confetti and sparklers in a line of text. They take the font's colour, so they stay neat in a bio or a printed invitation where would look like a sticker.
Mix one colour emoji with a text frame and the caption reads lively without turning into a row of pictures: , , or .
Symbols
120Click a symbol to copy it and open its page.
How to use them
6 situationsClick to copyParty & Dance Emoji combos
15Worth knowing
- Confetti Ball is a Japanese kusudama: a decorated paper ball hung at openings and ceremonies that is split open with a cord to release confetti, streamers and a banner. It and Party Popper came into Unicode in 2010 from the Japanese phone carriers' emoji sets.
- Person in Suit Levitating is a copy of the Webdings "exclamation mark man", which Microsoft's designer based on the rude-boy logo of 2 Tone Records, the British ska label behind The Specials. That is why he looks like a ska dancer in a suit and pork-pie hat.
- was named Dancer until Man Dancing arrived in 2016; Unicode then renamed her Woman Dancing, and People with Bunny Ears, originally a pair of women, got man and woman versions the same year.
- Mirror Ball was approved in September 2022 (Emoji 15.0) and reached phones in 2023, more than a decade after most other party emoji.
- In Apple's Messages app, sending "Congratulations!" fills the screen with confetti and "Pew pew" fires lasers, a built-in light show that needs no emoji at all.
Questions people ask
8What is the party emoji?
The party face is Partying Face (hat and blower). The party objects are Party Popper, Confetti Ball and Balloon. Together, , they are what most people mean by "party emoji".
How do I copy and paste party emoji?
Tap or click any emoji in the grid above to copy it, then paste it into your message, invite or caption. The combos copy as a whole string.
What is the dance emoji?
Woman Dancing and Man Dancing are the dance emoji; People with Bunny Ears is two people dancing together and Person in Suit Levitating is the cool one floating above the floor. Mirror Ball stands for the dance floor itself.
What does the party emoji mean from a girl or a guy?
Usually just excitement: a plan is on, a win, a good mood. or after your name means they are happy about something you did or said. On hookup apps, "party" and the emoji can be slang for drug use ("party and play"), so read it with the rest of the profile.
What does the disco ball emoji mean?
means nightlife: a club, a disco, a dance party, or a shiny retro aesthetic. On its own in a caption it reads as "going out tonight" or "good vibes".
What are good party emoji combos?
for any party, for a club night, for a girls' night, for a toast, for a kids' party and for the morning after.
What does the bunny ears emoji mean?
shows two people in bunny ears dancing in step. It means best friends, twinning, a girls' night out or dancing together. It came from Japanese phone emoji, where it showed two showgirls in bunny costumes.
How do I find party emoji on iPhone or Android?
Open the emoji keyboard and type "party", "dance" or "disco" in the search box. On Windows press the Windows key . and type the same; on a Mac press Control Command Space.
