The Emotion Wheel (also known as a feelings wheel, emotions wheel or wheel of emotions) is a free interactive tool that helps you name and understand your emotions. Begin with six core emotions — love, joy, surprise, sadness, anger and fear — then explore the feelings wheel outward to find the precise word for how you feel. Ideal for adults, therapy, journaling and helping children build their emotional vocabulary. Works offline and installs as an app.
Tap a core emotion to begin
Drag, scroll or use ← → to spin • tap a slice to zoom in • tap the centre to reset
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The Emotion Wheel
A simple way to put your finger on exactly what you feel.
What is a feelings wheel?
An emotion wheel (or feelings wheel) starts at the centre with a big, broad feeling, then lets you spin outward to a more precise word. Six core emotions sit in the middle — love, joy, surprise, sadness, anger and fear — and every outer word is a shade of one of them.
The psychology
Psychologists call this skill emotional granularity — being able to tell your feelings apart. Naming a feeling precisely (not just “bad”, but “disappointed” or “lonely”) actually quiets the brain’s alarm system and makes the emotion easier to handle. Those six core emotions are recognised across nearly every culture, which is why they sit at the heart of the wheel.
Using it on your own
Pause and notice what’s happening in your body.
Tap the inner ring for the closest big feeling.
Move outward until you reach the word that fits best.
Tap Define if a word is unfamiliar, then sit with it — naming it is often enough.
Using it with a child
Let them spin the wheel for fun first, then ask “where are you right now?” Switch on Simplify for gentler, plainer words. Keep it playful and remember there are no wrong answers — naming feelings together grows their vocabulary and helps them feel understood. 💛
💡Tip: turn on Simplify (bottom-left) to swap every word for plain language — helpful for children, language learners, or anyone who prefers it. Tap Define (bottom-right) to learn any feeling.