uwu
Text face with closed eyes and cat mouth for cuteness.
Meaning
uwu is a text emoticon that signals cuteness, warmth, happiness or affection. The two u letters read as closed eyes and the w reads as a small cat mouth. It is informal and fond, used mainly in fandom chats and casual messages.
Origin
The form builds on older kaomoji and letter-based emoticons. The exact first post is undocumented, so the origin is treated as unknown. Korean Wikipedia describes u as closed eyes and w as a cat mouth for warmth and affection. It spread through forums and chat apps rather than one video.
How it's used
People add it after a kind message, a compliment or a cute image to soften tone. It works as an interjection or tone marker and does not inflect. The forms uwu and UwU carry the same meaning.
Example
Thanks for checking on me yesterday, uwu.
Variants & related
Spellings include uwu, UwU and stretched uwuwu. Related cute faces are owo, TwT and :3. A flat face such as -_- marks the opposite cool tone.
Common misunderstandings
Outsiders sometimes sound it out as letters instead of seeing it as a face. It is playful in many groups, so use in formal email feels off register. It is not itself an insult, though context can shift tone.