Shrug Kaomoji — 200+ Shrug Lenny Faces to Copy
200 shrug kaomoji, including the versions that survive markdown.
Shrug kaomoji are the most copied text faces on the internet and the most likely to arrive broken. Both facts have the same cause, and it is fixable.
Why the left arm disappears
On Reddit, Discord and anywhere else using markdown, the backslash is an escape character — it tells the parser to treat the next character literally.
So ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ arrives as ¯_(ツ)_/¯, missing its left arm, because the parser consumed the backslash.
Two fixes. **Double it** — type ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and one survives. Or **use a version with no backslash at all**: ┐(ツ)┌ and ╮(ツ)╭ have nothing to strip and arrive whole every time. On any platform where you are unsure, those are the safer choice.
ツ means nothing
The face is the katakana character tsu. It carries no facial meaning in Japanese whatsoever — it was adopted purely because its shape resembles a smile with two eyes.
That is worth knowing because you can replace it. ¯\_(ಠ_ಠ)_/¯ is a judgemental shrug. ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯ is an insinuating one. ╮(╯_╰)╭ is a resigned one. The arms stay constant and carry the gesture; whatever sits between them carries the attitude.
That modularity is why this face survived when most 2010-era emoticons did not: it depicts a gesture rather than an expression, and gestures are exactly what emoji handle badly.
Where they work
These render everywhere — WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, Discord, Telegram, Reddit, X and game chats. The arms are macrons and slashes, which every font has.
The shrug works best as a complete message. Sent alone after a question you cannot answer, it says more than a sentence would. It reads badly twice in one conversation, where it starts to look like you are not engaging.
See also shrug text faces for the wider set and annoyed kaomoji for irritation that is willing to say so.
One variant worth saving separately: the one-armed shrug ヾ(ツ). It fits inside username and display-name limits where the full version does not, and it reads correctly despite being half a face, because the gesture is legible from one arm alone.
Shrug kaomoji is part of the wider kaomoji collection — see also money kaomoji, running kaomoji, thinking kaomoji.
FAQ
How do I type the shrug emoji?
Copy it from this page — nobody types it manually. On a phone you can also save it as a text-replacement shortcut so typing “shrug” expands into the face.
Why does my shrug lose an arm?
Markdown platforms treat the backslash as an escape character. Double it (\\) on Reddit and Discord, or use a variation without backslashes.
What does ツ mean?
It is the katakana character “tsu”. It has no facial meaning in Japanese — it was adopted purely because its shape resembles a face.
Is the shrug the same as a Lenny face?
No. The shrug is a separate emoticon; the faces on this page combine shrug arms with Lenny-style expressions.