People & Body · Emoji 12.0
🧏♂️Deaf Man Emoji
Generally, it means a deaf man. People use it to show they are talking about someone who uses sign language or has hearing loss.
The 🧏♂️ emoji represents a man who is deaf.
- Unicode
- U+1F9CF U+200D U+2642 U+FE0F
- Released
- 2019
- Shortcode
- :deaf_
man: - Skin tones
- Yes
01 — Meaning
What does the 🧏♂️ Deaf Man emoji mean?
People search for this character under a lot of different names, and the ones we have collected number 6.
02 — Platforms
Deaf Man emoji on iPhone, Android, WhatsApp and X
Same code on both ends, different drawing on each screen — here is the deaf man as 5 vendors ship it.
See the whole set the way each system draws it — iPhone emojis, Android emojis, WhatsApp emojis and Discord emojis.
03 — Skin tones
Deaf Man emoji skin tones
🧏♂️ supports all five Fitzpatrick skin tone modifiers. Each one is a separate character sequence — tap any to copy it.
04 — Copy & codes
Deaf Man emoji copy and paste
Tap any value to copy it. The emoji itself works everywhere, the escapes are for your code, and the shortcode Slack and Discord expect is :deaf_man:.
All emoji copy and paste →In your code
Pick the notation your language wants. They all resolve to the deaf man, code point U+1F9CF.
05 — How to type
How to type the 🧏♂️ Deaf Man emoji
No picker to hand? The deaf man can be typed straight from the keyboard — the codes for that are below, one per system.
06 — Download
Deaf Man emoji PNG and SVG
Grab the deaf man as transparent PNG or SVG. Each system ships its own drawing, and the licence stays with the vendor, all 5 of them.
Emoji PNG library →
Apple
Google
Twitter / X
Facebook
07 — Combinations
Deaf Man emoji combinations
Ready-made combos built around deaf man for bios, captions and comments. Tap to copy.
All combinations →Want two emojis fused into one sticker instead of set side by side? Emoji Kitchen does that for every pair Google has drawn, and there are more ready-made pairs in emoji combinations and aesthetic emoji combos.
08 — In conversation
What 🧏♂️ means from a girl or a guy
Same emoji, different intent depending on who sent it and what came before.
09 — Around the world
What 🧏♂️ means in other countries
Same accessibility meaning as the other two variants — sign language or Deaf identity, not a mocking gesture.
Used respectfully to indicate hearing status or sign-language content.
Rarely appears outside that context, so a sarcastic use tends to stand out as tone-deaf.
Before you send it: Treat it as identity representation rather than a stand-in for “I’m ignoring you”.
10 — Apps
What 🧏♂️ means on TikTok, WhatsApp and Discord
The character is the same everywhere, but the artwork and the reading of it change from app to app.
12 — Difference
🧏♂️ vs 🙇♂️ — what is the difference?
Two emojis that get mixed up constantly. They are different characters with different names.
Unicode name: Deaf Man
Code: U+1F9CF U+200D U+2642 U+FE0F · added 2019
Shortcode: :deaf_man:
Generally, it means a deaf man.
Unicode name: Man Bowing
Code: U+1F647 U+200D U+2642 U+FE0F · added 2016
Shortcode: :man-bowing:
Generally, 🙇♂️ means “I’m sorry” or “I apologize.”
13 — History
Where the 🧏♂️ Deaf Man emoji came from
Approved as part of Emoji 12.0, the deaf man has been on phones for years now — counting from its release, 7.
Same character every time — U+1F9CF U+200D U+2642 U+FE0F never changed. Only the drawing did, and only because each vendor redraws its own set. Someone on an older phone still sees the older picture.
Deaf Man was approved as U+1F9CF U+200D U+2642 U+FE0F and shipped in Emoji 12.0 (2019). Phones usually get new artwork about a year after approval, in a system update.
Every vendor keeps its own artwork, so 🧏♂️ is redrawn by Apple, Google, Twitter / X, Facebook, OpenMoji. The character you send never changes — only the picture does.
14 — FAQ