An emoji used to express a reaction to a post on social media.
"She quickly added an angry face as her react to my controversial status update."
In plain English: A react is an unexpected emotional response to something that happens around you.
"Her reaction to the bad news was immediate shock."
undergo a chemical reaction; react with another substance under certain conditions
"The hydrogen and the oxygen react"
To act or perform a second time; to do over again; to reenact.
"After watching the dance performance, she decided to react by performing her solo routine once more on stage."
In plain English: To react means to do something immediately after someone else does it, just like how your body might jump when you get startled by a loud noise.
"Please react to this email by tomorrow so we can move forward with the project."
Usage: Use the verb form when describing someone performing an action again, such as reenacting a scene from a movie. Distinguish this usage from the noun "react," which refers specifically to emojis expressing reactions in online conversations.
The word react comes from combining the prefix re- with act, meaning to do or perform something again. It entered English as a piecewise doublet related to the verb redact.