Find the word
for what you feel.
Interactive emotion wheels that take you from “I feel off” to the exact word — for journaling, therapy and team check-ins. Or just describe it, and we’ll find it for you.
How it works
From vague to precise,
in three taps.
People who can name emotions precisely are better at regulating them. The wheel builds that vocabulary: start broad in the centre, then move outward until a word fits.
- 01CoreSadness
Start with a core emotion
Six broad feelings sit at the centre. Pick the one that’s closest.
- 02SecondaryNeglected
Move outward
Each ring narrows it down to something more specific.
- 03SpecificLonely
Land on the word
Read what it means — and why it might be showing up.
“A yearning for connection and belonging that remains unfulfilled.”
The original · Gloria Willcox, 1982
The Feeling Wheel
Explore the full spectrum of human emotions — from anger to joy, fear to love. Identify and name exactly what you're experiencing.
- Anger
- Sadness
- Surprise
- Joy
- Love
- Fear
The library
A wheel for every part of life.
Mood, energy, work, relationships, grief, burnout, ADHD — each with its own carefully written vocabulary.
Emotion & Feeling Wheel
Explore the full spectrum of human emotions — from anger to joy, fear to love. Identify and name exactly what you're experiencing.
Personal66 wordsMood Check-in Wheel
Check in with your current mood state. Perfect for daily standups and team meetings to quickly share where you're at.
Personal36 wordsEnergy Level Wheel
Map your energy across physical, mental, emotional, and social dimensions. Understand what fuels you and what drains you.
Personal36 wordsWork Satisfaction Wheel
Reflect on your professional experience — from engagement to burnout, growth to stagnation. Share where you stand with your team.
Workplace36 wordsRelationship Dynamics Wheel
Explore how you relate to the people around you — in teams, partnerships, and communities. Name the dynamics that shape your connections.
Relationships36 wordsLife Values Grid
Explore your core life values through an interactive grid. Discover what drives your decisions, shapes your identity, and guides your path forward.
Wellbeing36 wordsHuman Needs Grid
Identify your unmet needs using Nonviolent Communication principles. Understanding your needs is the first step to expressing them clearly and getting them met.
Wellbeing36 wordsCharacter Strengths Wheel
Explore your character strengths through the VIA framework. Discover the qualities that energise you, define your best self, and help you thrive.
Personal60 wordsNervous System States Wheel
Explore your autonomic nervous system states through the lens of Polyvagal Theory. Identify whether you're in a regulated, connected state or a protective stress response — and find precise language for what your body and mind are experiencing.
Wellbeing48 wordsTeam Pulse Wheel
A fast, honest mood check-in designed for team meetings. In 30 seconds, identify exactly where you are today — energized, steady, stretched, stressed, struggling, or checked out. Built for all-hands, standups, retros, and 1-on-1s.
Workplace48 wordsMood & Food Wheel
Explore the connection between your mood and your food cravings. Every emotional state has a food language — from comfort to celebration, stress-eating to nourishment. Find what your body and feelings are asking for today.
Wellbeing48 wordsSelf-Care Wheel
Explore the six dimensions of self-care to identify where you're thriving and where you need more attention. True wellbeing requires balance across physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual, personal, and professional domains.
Personal36 wordsAwareness Wheel
Explore the dimensions of conscious awareness — from external senses to internal states, from mental activity to relational connection. Developing awareness is the foundation of mindfulness and the key to living with presence and intention.
Personal36 wordsMoney Mindset Wheel
Explore your emotional relationship with money. Identify the feelings that drive your financial decisions — from anxiety to abundance, scarcity to empowerment.
Wellbeing48 wordsBoundaries Wheel
Explore and strengthen your personal boundaries. Identify where you need more protection and where you can open up — across physical, emotional, digital, and social domains.
Relationships54 wordsADHD Emotion Wheel
A focused emotion wheel for ADHD adults and teens. Identify fast, intense emotional states and name them with precision.
ADHD48 wordsADHD Feelings Wheel
A practical feelings wheel for ADHD check-ins. Move from vague intensity to precise feeling words you can use in real life.
ADHD48 wordsEmotional Dysregulation ADHD
An ADHD dysregulation wheel focused on high-intensity states, triggers, and regulation-oriented naming.
ADHD48 wordsStress Response Wheel
Identify your stress response patterns and understand how your body and mind react to pressure. From acute activation to chronic shutdown, this wheel helps you name your stress state with precision.
Wellbeing54 wordsBurnout Wheel
Identify the specific dimensions of burnout you're experiencing. Burnout isn't just exhaustion—it's a complex syndrome affecting energy, connection, meaning, and efficacy. Use this wheel to pinpoint where you need support.
Workplace54 wordsDecision-Making Clarity Wheel
Understand your internal state when making decisions. From crystal clarity to paralyzing confusion, this wheel helps you identify what's blocking or supporting your decision-making process.
Workplace54 wordsGrief & Loss Wheel
Grief is not linear and it has no deadline. Whether you've lost a person, a relationship, a role, a dream, or a version of yourself — this wheel gives language to where you are right now. Use it to understand, not to rush.
Wellbeing72 wordsConnection & Loneliness Wheel
Loneliness is a global public health crisis — but not everyone's loneliness is the same. This wheel helps you identify what kind of connection is missing or present in your life right now, so you can address the right need.
Relationships72 wordsShame & Guilt Wheel
Shame says "I am bad." Guilt says "I did something bad." Both are powerful forces — one drives growth, the other drives hiding. This wheel helps you name what's actually happening so it can stop running the show from the shadows.
Personal72 wordsTeam Morale Check
Check your team's morale beyond today's mood. Understand whether people feel valued, aligned, and committed — or if something deeper is eroding engagement. Best for monthly or quarterly check-ins.
Workplace48 wordsMeeting Energy Check
A 15-second check-in for the start of any meeting. Share how you're arriving — energized, focused, neutral, distracted, drained, or overwhelmed — so the team can adjust pace and expectations.
Workplace48 words
For teams & groups
See how the room
really feels.
Host a check-in, share a link, and watch your group’s emotional landscape take shape as people respond.
- Anonymous by default — honest answers
- Works on any phone, nothing to install
- Live word cloud you can share on screen
- Great for standups, retros and all-hands
Built for your context
Tools for every room.
- For kids & familiesAge-appropriate wheel for children
- For therapistsSession-ready feelings worksheet
- For couplesTalk about the hard stuff, precisely
- For teamsAnonymous mood check-ins for meetings
- DBT practiceEmotion regulation for DBT skills
- ADHD supportName and ride out emotional spikes
- Plutchik's wheelThe classic 8-emotion model, explained
- Printable wheelDownload and print for offline use
- Workplace wellnessHR tools for employee wellbeing
- Daily check-inA 30-second habit for self-awareness
- All emotions A–ZBrowse every emotion with definitions
- Guides & articlesPractical playbooks and explainers
From the blog
Latest guides.
Gratitude Without Toxic Positivity: How to Feel Thankful Without Bypassing What's Hard
"Just be grateful" can sound like a kindness and land like a dismissal. Real gratitude does not ask you to pretend the hard parts away. It sits beside them.
Read · 9 min readWhen the Days Get Shorter: Noticing the Feelings That Come With Autumn and Winter
Lower energy, a flat mood, the pull to stay in — many people feel the season change before they can name it. Here is how to notice those feelings early and check in with yourself gently.
Read · 9 min readContentment vs. Happiness: The Quiet Good Feelings You Keep Missing
Content, peaceful, satisfied, relieved — the calm good feelings rarely announce themselves, so most people walk right past them. Learning to notice them changes how good an ordinary week actually feels.
Read · 10 min readFAQ
What is a
feeling wheel?
A visual map of human emotions — from broad categories like joy and fear to precise feelings like euphoria, grief or dread.
What is a feeling wheel?
A feeling wheel (also called an emotion wheel) is a visual tool that helps you identify and name your emotions with greater precision. It starts with core emotions in the center and expands outward into more specific feelings, helping you move beyond vague descriptions like 'good' or 'bad' to articulate exactly what you're experiencing. The original Feelings Wheel was created by psychologist Gloria Willcox in 1982.
How do I use the emotion wheel?
Start at the center of the wheel with a core emotion (like Joy, Sadness, Anger, or Fear). Then move outward through the layers to find increasingly specific words that match your experience. For example, you might start with 'Sadness', then narrow it to 'Disappointed', and finally land on 'Depressed' or 'Sorrow'. This process builds emotional vocabulary and self-awareness.
Who can benefit from using a feeling wheel?
Feeling wheels are used by therapists and counselors in sessions, teams during daily standups and retrospectives, individuals for journaling and self-reflection, couples improving communication, parents teaching children about emotions, and anyone wanting to develop greater emotional intelligence and awareness.
Is Feeling HQ free to use?
Yes, Feeling HQ is completely free. All interactive wheels — Emotion & Feeling Wheel, Mood Check-in Wheel, Energy Level Wheel, Work Satisfaction Wheel, Relationship Dynamics Wheel, Values Grid, Needs Grid, and Strengths Wheel — are available at no cost with no sign-up required.
How can teams use the feeling wheel for meetings?
Teams use feeling wheels as check-in tools during all-hands meetings, leadership meetings, standups, and retrospectives. The host shares a link, team members select their current emotional state anonymously, and results are aggregated to give leaders insight into team morale and engagement. This works great for remote teams and virtual meetings.
What is the difference between Plutchik's wheel and the Feelings Wheel?
Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions (1980) identifies 8 primary emotions arranged by intensity and shows how they combine into complex emotions. Gloria Willcox's Feelings Wheel (1982) organizes emotions into categories that expand from simple to specific, designed specifically for therapy and emotional vocabulary building. Both are valuable tools for emotional intelligence.
Can I use the relationship wheel for couples therapy?
Yes, the Relationship Dynamics Wheel helps couples identify and communicate feelings about their relationship. It's used by couples therapists, relationship coaches, and partners who want to improve communication. It helps articulate complex relationship emotions that are often hard to express.
How does the work satisfaction wheel help employees?
The Work Satisfaction Wheel helps employees identify their feelings about work, career, and professional relationships. HR teams and managers use it for employee engagement surveys, one-on-ones, and team health checks. It reveals workplace sentiment that traditional surveys miss.