Sad but relieved face emoji meaning

The sad but relieved face emoji shows a face with a slight frown and a single droplet of sweat on one side. This combination represents feelings of sadness or disappointment paired with a sense of relief. It is often used to show emotions when someone has just gone through a stressful or challenging experience but feels thankful that it ended better than expected. For example, it could express the relief of resolving a problem, the gratitude of avoiding a worse situation, or the feeling of letting go of stress after a difficult moment. The sweat droplet highlights the anxiety or tension that was present, while the overall expression shows that things are now okay, even if they were tough at first. This emoji is a way to communicate complex emotions that blend worry with gratitude.

The sad but relieved face emoji was approved in Unicode 6.0 and added in Emoji 1.0, see related proposal L2/09026