It was defined on Urban Dictionary as early as 2012 and gained virality on Tumblr in 2013, where some found themselves confused about what it meant. Over the following years, the emoticon spread online as both a smiley emoticon and in memes, typically featuring anime references. It is most often used to convey happiness but can also express a feeling of contentment and relaxation. UWU is meant to represent a cutesy smiley face that anime characters sometimes make, each 'U' acting as an eye and the 'W' as a mouth. It's unknown when people started using UWU as an alternative to the smiley emoticon, but the first known use of the term comes from a Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfiction published on October 14th, 2005. Here's a deeper look into the history and use of the term so you can properly express your happiness to every weeaboo you meet. UWU is used as an alternative to the smiley face emoticon but with a cute twist, resembling a cartoonish smile that's frequently used in anime. If you've ever found yourself browsing anime or furry communities online, you may have run across the term UWU before.

What does uwu mean