Crying Cat / Thumbs Up Cat
A teary-eyed cat giving a thumbs up — the perfect image for 'I'm dying inside but everything is fine.'
A photoshopped cat with teary, pleading eyes and a human thumbs-up gesture. It expresses forced optimism through pain — smiling on the outside while falling apart. Often captioned with contradictory text ('I'm fine :)') or used as a reply when someone shares bad news you must pretend to accept.
History
Know Your Meme traces the Thumbs Up Crying Cat to a June 2019 tweet by @MISSINGEGO, which combined a sad cat face with a thumbs-up stock hand. The image spread quickly on Twitter and Reddit as a reaction macro. It sits in the same emotional lane as 'This Is Fine' but with more explicit performative positivity.
Cultural scores
Editorial estimates of cultural weight — Current Popularity tracks how much people are posting about this now, not historical fame.
Current Popularity = how actively people are posting about this today. Influence = lasting footprint. Cringe = online reception. Brainrot = absurdist energy. Scores last reviewed 2026-07-25. How scoring works
Timeline
Jun 2019
@MISSINGEGO tweets the Thumbs Up Crying Cat composite
2019
Spreads across Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram reaction pages
2020
Peak use during lockdown 'I'm fine' coping posts
2021+
Remains a standard sad-wholesome reaction image
Examples
- “Boss assigns weekend work — [crying cat thumbs up] 'Can't wait!'”
- “Me pretending to enjoy small talk — thumbs up crying cat”
- “Reply image when a friend shares trauma and you don't know what to say”
Media
Crying Cat — Know Your Meme
Documentation of the Thumbs Up Crying Cat meme origin.
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/crying-cat
Thumbs Up Crying Cat — Know Your Meme
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/thumbs-up-crying-cat
Related entries
Culturally linked — not random recommendations.
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Hide the Pain Harold
MemeHungarian stock-photo model András Arató — whose forced smile became the internet's face of polite suffering and fake enthusiasm.
This Is Fine
MemeKC Green's 2013 comic dog calmly sipping coffee in a burning room — the internet's favorite denial emoji.
Woman Yelling at Cat
MemeA two-panel meme pairing a screaming Real Housewives cast member with an unimpressed white cat at a dinner table — one of the most versatile reaction formats of the late 2010s.
Ah Shit. Here We Go Again
MemeCJ's GTA: San Andreas line turned 2019 reaction meme — the internet's shrug when the same mess starts over.
Keyboard Cat
MemeA cat in a blue shirt playing keyboard — used to 'play off' blunders, falls, and awkward moments.
Arthur's Fist
MemeThe clenched-fist Arthur Read still — the internet's default reaction image for bottled rage and 'mood.'
References
Sources behind this entry. Prefer primary reporting and established culture archives over rumor.
- Crying Cat / Thumbs Up Cat — Wikipedia search
en.wikipedia.org