What Does A Black Heart Mean In Texting? (Answered!)

A black heart can mean a few different things in texting. It’s often heavily associated with emo and goth culture, expressing that you have a “dark” sense of humor or just jokingly suggesting that you have a dark soul. It can also just be an aesthetic choice for those who love the color black.

If someone sends you a black heart emoji while texting, it could mean any number of things.

How it’s used will be heavily context dependent, and there’s never going to be one, absolute “meaning” for this emoji.

Let’s find out more.

In This Article

What does a black heart stand for in texting?

It can stand for a wide variety of things, and will be heavily dependent on who is using the heart and in what context.

The simplest explanation, though, is probably the right one!

Given the variety of color hearts available now, some people simply choose colors other than red as an aesthetic choice.

If someone sends you a message with black hearts in it, that might be no different for them than using any other color of heart.

As I said, it has become particularly associated with certain subcultures, such as goth.

Goths, famously, love the color black, wearing nothing but black, even wearing black makeup and things like that.

So, for them, the black heart emoji just becomes an extension of that. It keeps your unique personality in your messages.

Following on from that, many might use the black heart emoji to express a certain kind of darkness in terms of their personality or sense of humor.

They might use the heart after a slightly morbid joke or comment, as a jokey way of showing how they feel themselves to be.

Of course, from the right person, it could be an indication of some kind of deeper feeling for you.

There’s never, of course, any guarantee that X emoji from Y person means they feel Z emotion towards you.

It’s never that simple! Equally, though, it’s not worth discounting the possibility.

Emojis are things more complex than we sometimes give them credit for, and in most cases, unfortunately, there’s no cheat sheet to tell you exactly what any given emoji is supposed to express.

Where does this black heart come from, then?

Where does the black heart come from?

Ranges of heart colors have been part of the standard emoji library for years.

How they came to each have certain associations is sometimes more difficult to figure out than other times.

But when it comes to the black heart and its specific associations, there’s not a great deal of mystery.

As I said, its strongest associations are with certain subcultures, such as goth.

Because they are black, the association simply was very natural and arose almost immediately.

This shortly came to mean that a person was perhaps expressing a certain dark aspect of humor or telling a “twisted” joke of some kind.

Any meanings beyond that have developed over time but are not absolutely and clearly defined even among slang circles.

Its meanings are simply too disparate to trace any origin, really.

Again, think about it in context!

What does it mean if someone sends you a black heart?

It depends, naturally.

You’ll have to think about the person that is sending you the black heart, plus the kind of relationship that you have with them.

You might be thinking them sending you a black heart is an expression of romantic interest. It certainly could be!

However, think about if you believe that person would express themselves in that way.

Also, think about whether that is really what they are saying in the given context.

If you aren’t sure, you don’t have to suffer in silence.

Ask them, be upfront, express your feelings if you have them.

But don’t get ahead of yourself thinking that a heart emoji automatically means any kind of romantic expression.

An equally important question for many is how to respond to it.

How do you respond to a black heart?

Again, it depends.

Most of the time, it probably doesn’t require a specific response.

There’s not really anything you have to say when someone sends you a black heart.

Many people just use emojis in all or most of the messages they send.

Again, though, if you think there could be more going on, you’ll never find out for sure by just thinking about it!

Be upfront if you feel that there may be a romantic undercurrent, but be prepared to have gotten the wrong end of the stick.

Does the black heart mean anything else?

What else does a black heart mean?

Black hearts can be used in certain specific contexts.

They have been used as the emoji associated with certain movements and campaigns.

They can also be used to actively express emotional coldness, that someone is being distant on purpose.

Many simply take it as the polar opposite of the red heart.

Where the red heart is warm, inviting, loving, the black heart is dark, empty, and swallows joy.

So, while it does, in some circles, have very specific associations, there’s no guarantee that there’s even anything to interpret from someone sending you a black heart emoji.

It might simply be that it fits with their aesthetic, and so they use black hearts for everyone.

Think about the person, and the context of the message—it shouldn’t be all that complicated!

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Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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