Two wide eyes and a little mouth. Here is what people mean when they send OwO — and the meme behind it.
OwO is an emoticon read upright: the two os are wide, round, surprised eyes and the w is a small mouth. It reads as curious, alert, or playfully surprised — often flirty. It is best known from the meme “OwO what’s this?” Its softer cousin UwU closes the eyes for a content, affectionate look.
Read it straight on: the two os are wide, round eyes and the w is a small mouth. The open eyes are what give OwO its surprised, wide-awake feel — the opposite of UwU’s sleepy, closed-eye contentment.
OwO owo OwO?
OwO signals playful surprise or curiosity, and is often flirty or teasing. The phrase “OwO what’s this?” — reacting with mock innocence to something suggestive — turned it into a widely shared meme. Like UwU, it comes out of anime, furry, and roleplay spaces.
Same mouth, different eyes. OwO has wide, surprised eyes; UwU has closed, happy eyes. Reach for OwO to sound alert, curious, or flirty, and UwU to sound soft and affectionate. See what does UwU mean.
Swap eyes and mouths to make your own text faces — from wide-eyed OwO to sleepy UwU — with the kaomoji generator.
Open the Kaomoji Generator →Related: what does UwU mean, cute kaomoji to copy, and the full kaomoji library.
OwO is an emoticon of a surprised, curious face: the two o letters are wide eyes and the w is a small mouth. It reads as playful surprise, curiosity, or flirtation.
It is a meme reaction of mock-innocent surprise, usually to something suggestive or unexpected. The wide-eyed OwO face sells the exaggerated “oh, what do we have here” tone.
The eyes. OwO has wide, surprised eyes; UwU has closed, content eyes. OwO reads as curious or flirty, UwU as soft and affectionate.
Often, yes. OwO frequently carries a teasing or flirty tone, especially in the “OwO what’s this?” meme, though it can just mean plain surprise.
OwO is a kaomoji (Japanese-style emoticon) popularized in anime, furry, and roleplay communities before spreading across the internet.