confidentFind to reveal
An 1849 confidence man asked strangers to lend him watches as proof of trust, putting confidence into the history of swindling.
Emotions Word Search
Find familiar words. Discover something unexpected.
Puzzle10 words · 11×11 grid · Medium · Answer key included
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🎉 Solved — all 10 words found!
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Find a puzzle word to reveal its fact.
0 of 10 facts revealed
surprisedFind to reveal
Surprise originally involved being seized unexpectedly, giving a cheerful birthday party a word with a much less friendly past.
cheerfulFind to reveal
Listeners in an experiment recognized different smiles from voices alone, giving a facial expression a signal that travels even without a picture.
gratefulFind to reveal
Thank-you letter writers in a study expected more awkwardness and less happiness than recipients reported, underestimating how welcome their appreciation would be.
peacefulFind to reveal
The familiar peace symbol combines two flag-signaling letters inside a circle: N and D, chosen to stand for nuclear disarmament.
jealousFind to reveal
Dogs reacted to owners petting a fake dog behind a screen in an experiment, suggesting jealous behavior didn't require seeing it.
nervousFind to reveal
Fainting goats topple when startled because their muscles stiffen, but they stay conscious, making their nickname sound more dramatic than the event.
scaredFind to reveal
When you are scared your pupils grow wide to let in more light, an automatic trick to help you spot danger.
happyFind to reveal
Bhutan measures national happiness with questions about health, community, culture, and time, treating well-being as more than income.
angryFind to reveal
A Japanese expression for being angry literally describes your belly rising, putting the feeling in a different place from English hot-headed imagery.
True stories · Sydney, Australia
Free hugs
In 2004 in Sydney, Australia, Juan Mann scrawled the words Free Hugs on a piece of cardboard and held it up in a busy shopping street. For a long while nobody stopped. In his account, the first person to stop was an elderly woman mourning her dog and remembering her daughter's death. They embraced. Slowly others joined, until strangers were embracing on the pavement. A short film of the scene spread around the world and sparked Free Hugs days in many countries. The man behind it said he only wanted to give people a small moment of warmth on an ordinary day.
Don't let's forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives, and that we obey them without knowing it.
Vincent van Gogh, letter to Theo, July 6, 1889
Trivia
Psychologist Paul Ekman argued that a few basic emotions share the same facial expressions worldwide. Can you name three?
Any three of: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, disgust.
What almond-shaped part of the brain helps process fear and other strong emotions?
The amygdala.
Which hormone, released during hugs and bonding, is often nicknamed the cuddle or love hormone?
Oxytocin.
A smile that engages muscles around both the mouth and eyes is named after a French anatomist. What is it called?
A Duchenne smile.
In 1872 Charles Darwin published a whole book arguing emotions are universal. What was its subject?
The expression of emotions in humans and animals.
Trivia · 1 / 5
Psychologist Paul Ekman argued that a few basic emotions share the same facial expressions worldwide. Can you name three?
Any three of: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, disgust.
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Play →or printTrue stories · Kashasha, Tanzania
The laughter that spread
In 1962, in the village of Kashasha, Tanzania, three schoolgirls started laughing in class and could not stop. Within days the giggling had spread to dozens of their classmates, then to nearby schools, with fits returning for hours at a time. The episodes could include crying and distress as well as laughter. Investigators found no toxic cause. Researchers later described it as a mass psychogenic response, where strong feeling travels through a group like a current, carried by stress and close contact. Several schools closed until the wave passed. It remains one of the most famous reminders that a distressing outbreak can spread through a closely connected group.
When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.
Dale Carnegie
Find happy, angry and scared among the words hidden in this puzzle. Play free online or print the puzzle with its answer key.
Is this emotions word search free to print?
This emotions word search is a free printable puzzle with 10 hidden words in an 11×11 grid. Find words like CONFIDENT, SURPRISED, CHEERFUL hidden across, down, and diagonally. You can play it right here in your browser — tap the first and last letter of a word — or download it as a printable PDF with the full answer key on page two. It's free for personal and classroom use, so teachers can print copies for a whole class with no sign-up and no account. Word searches like this one are a proven way to build vocabulary, spelling, and word-shape recognition, which is why they're a favourite with ESL learners, elementary classrooms, and anyone who likes a quiet puzzle with their coffee.
Print this Emotions word search
Sources: Free Hugs Campaign · Tanganyika laughter epidemic · Pride is innate (Tracy and Matsumoto) · Why do we cry? (Scientific American) · Van Gogh letter to Theo, July 6, 1889
Word list, facts & trivia researched and compiled by Sam Letterman — spotted a mistake? Tell us and we’ll fix it.