smiley face

plural smiley faces · alternative smily face

1. A smiley, a simplified drawing of a smiling face, using two dots for the eyes and an arc for the mouth.
2. InternetrareA smiley, a sequence of text characters used to represent a happy mood, e.g. :) or :-).

   Enter the smiley face, the computer hacker's version of comic relief.

   2002, Lisa Malia McDonough, Lisa, the Brief Life of a Writer, page 136

   2 more examples

   Two minutes later a reply came back. Cool, see you tomorrow...x Campbell sent back a smiley face, did a little dance around the bedroom and flopped back onto his bed wearing a smiley face of his own.

   2005, Craig Cornwell, Whoops! There Goes the Neighbourhood, page 20

   Against Mary Jane's wishes, I texted Gavin just to reassure him that I was not going out with his girlfriend. I put a smiley face at the end of the message.

   2007, C. N. Barton, The Cambridge Diaries: A Tale of Friendship, Love And Economics, page 94