U+002A U+20E3 · emoji since 2015
The asterisk keycap is the * symbol on a button. It means footnotes, corrections, wildcards, and the star key on a phone keypad.
It flags the fine print, bleeps out words politely, and marks the typo fix in the next message. A tiny star with a big job.
In texting, *️⃣ does not carry a widely used hidden or slang meaning, so you can usually take it at face value. People send it just as it looks, to add a little visual touch or set the mood of a message. Only a handful of emoji have a separate texting code, and *️⃣ is not really one of them.
Its official Unicode name is the Asterisk emoji. In everyday chat most people just call it the asterisk emoji or describe what it shows. Copy and paste it from the button at the top of this page.
The *️⃣ leads off a short phrase, and the rest of the words are written in cipher, every letter disguised as another emoji. Tap decipher to reveal the whole line.
Or make your own cipher in the translator.