In 1872 Charles Darwin published a whole book arguing emotions are universal. What was its subject?

The expression of emotions in humans and animals.

People & Body

Emotions Word Search

This emotions word search hides words like happy, angry, scared to find. Play it free online or print the PDF with the answer key, a handy emotions vocabulary activity.

10 words · 11×11 grid · Medium · Answer key included · Free printable PDF

People & Body

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Tap the first and last letter of a word — or use arrow keys and Enter. Dragging works too.

CONFIDENT
SURPRISED
CHEERFUL
GRATEFUL
PEACEFUL
JEALOUS
NERVOUS
SCARED
HAPPY
ANGRY

🎉 Solved — all 10 words found!

True stories

Free hugs

Sydney, Australia

On a gray afternoon in Sydney, Australia, a young man 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. Then an elderly woman, who said she had just lost her dog and was feeling low, stepped forward and asked for a hug. 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 on every continent. The man behind it said he only wanted to give people a small moment of warmth on an ordinary day.

The laughter that spread

Kashasha, Tanzania

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. Doctors who studied it found nothing physically wrong, and the girls were perfectly healthy. 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 emotions, even laughter, can be quietly contagious.

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Did you know?

happy: Bhutan measures national happiness with questions about health, community, culture, and time, treating well-being as more than income.
angry: A Japanese expression for being angry literally describes your belly rising, putting the feeling in a different place from English hot-headed imagery.
scared: When you are scared your pupils grow wide to let in more light, an automatic trick to help you spot danger.
jealous: Dogs reacted to owners petting a fake dog behind a screen in an experiment, suggesting jealous behavior didn't require seeing it.
nervous: Fainting goats topple when startled because their muscles stiffen, but they stay conscious, making their nickname sound more dramatic than the event.
cheerful: Listeners in an experiment recognized different smiles from voices alone, giving a facial expression a signal that travels even without a picture.
grateful: Thank-you letter writers in a study expected more awkwardness and less happiness than recipients reported, underestimating how welcome their appreciation would be.
peaceful: The familiar peace symbol combines two flag-signaling letters inside a circle: N and D, chosen to stand for nuclear disarmament.
confident: An 1849 confidence man asked strangers to lend him watches as proof of trust, putting confidence into the history of swindling.
surprised: Surprise originally involved being seized unexpectedly, giving a cheerful birthday party a word with a much less friendly past.
frustrated: The word frustrated comes from a Latin root meaning in vain, capturing the feeling of effort that leads nowhere.
embarrassed: Blushing is a uniquely human response; Charles Darwin called it the most peculiar and most human of all expressions.
excited: Excitement and fear feel almost identical inside the body, so telling yourself you are excited can steady pre-performance nerves.
delighted: The word delight traces back to a Latin root meaning to allure or charm, unrelated to the light it resembles.
hopeful: Bees given a sugar treat approached an uncertain flower cue more readily, showing an optimistic bias in a controlled experiment.

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 genuine smile that crinkles the eyes is named after a French scientist. 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.

In their words

Let us not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives, and we obey them without even knowing it.
Vincent van Gogh

When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.
Dale Carnegie

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.

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