What does using the flame emoji mean?

The laugh-cry emoji – our most used of 2021 – has become a shorthand to mean something more, as have the pleading face, the peach and the eggplant emojis (if you know, you know).

Another popular emoji you might have been sent before is the flames emoji. What does it mean and how should you use it?

What can the fire emoji mean?

Context is always key when it comes to the flames emoji.

Depending on the nature of the conversation – and the nature of your relationship – let us explain some of the most likely uses of the fire emoji.

If you’re flirting…

Quite simply, the flame emoji is used if someone thinks you’re hot, in a flirty or dating context.

Say you’ve started chatting to someone on a dating app, and they follow you on social media. If you post an Instagram story – at the gym, you’re going out outfit etc – and they respond with the flames, they’re letting you know you are hot stuff (to use an outdated colloquialism no one actually uses anymore).

If it’s not sexual…

Okay, so the thing is, someone might send you a bunch of flame emojis and it might throw you because they are someone you wouldn’t expect to flirt with. Maybe it’s a friend, maybe it’s someone you don’t even know that well.

Again, this is where context is important.