KEKW is an emote used to express laughter on Twitch chat, similar to LUL, which is the face of a laughing person. KEKW was first developed by Spanish streamer Juan Joya Borja, also known as El Risitas.
In 2018, Felix “xQc” Lengyel made headlines when he used the KEKW emote to show his laughter while watching El Risitas laughing, prompting millions of Twitcher viewers to use it themselves as well. Soon thereafter, its use became widespread and became one of the most beloved emoticons on Twitch.
The KEKW emote can be seen everywhere from chatrooms to streaming platforms; most commonly though it is used to express laughter at another’s misfortune or error. If a streamer makes an embarrassing error while streaming, viewers might use this emoticon in chat to express their amusement at what happened and spam this emoticon over and over.
The KEKW emote can also be used to demonstrate genuine laughter. For example, when watching a streamer say something amusing viewers might use this gesture to show they found it amusing.
The KEKW Emote is an adaptable gesture used to express laughter – be it genuine or ironic.
Here are a few other popular Twitch emotes similar to KEKW:
- LUL stands for “Laugh out loud,” one of the most beloved Twitch emotes.
- OMEGALUL: This emoticon is an exaggerated version of LUL and used to convey extreme laughter.