Feelings Wheel: 130 Emotions and an AI Reading of What You Feel

The feelings wheel is a circular chart that takes you from a broad category - sad, angry, scared - to the exact word for what you feel: lonely, powerless, let down. The interactive feelings wheel in EmoFlow-AI has 130 emotions in three rings: you pick one or several, mark how strong it is, and get an AI reading of what may be behind that mix of feelings. It is free and needs no account. Why the exact word matters: people who tell their unpleasant feelings apart in fine detail are 30 percent more flexible in regulating their emotions, as psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett sums up the research (2017). A paper wheel ends at the word and cannot tell you what to do with the feeling. Here the word is the start: in Pro the AI coach takes your check-in, picks one of 80+ techniques from CBT, DBT and ACT and walks you through it right in the conversation. That is guided self-help: nothing to look up or study first, no appointment to book or pay for.

By EmoFlow-AIUpdated October 4, 2026How we research

53 people kept a diary for two weeks: those who told their unpleasant feelings apart in more detail did something to manage them more often, above all when the feelings were intense (Barrett et al., 2001)

According to a review of studies, people who tell their feelings apart in more detail are less likely to turn to heavy drinking or aggression when they are badly distressed (Kashdan, Barrett & McKnight, 2015)

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'How do you feel?' - and out comes one of the same three words: good, bad, fine. Sometimes sad, angry, scared. And there the list ends. But there's a lot going on inside. 'Bad' can mean envy of a coworker, irritation with a partner, loneliness in a crowd, tiredness and emptiness, guilt, disappointment in yourself. All of it often goes by one word - 'bad'. That's the problem: until there is an exact word, it's unclear what exactly to deal with. The feelings wheel is a map for finding the exact word for what's inside. Once the word is found, three things change. First, it gets a little quieter: a named feeling is less frightening than a nameless one - like hearing a noise in a dark room, getting scared, switching on the light and seeing it was the curtain. Second, it's clear what to deal with: 'I feel sad' gives you nothing to do; 'I feel hurt after yesterday's conversation' gives you somewhere to start. Third, feelings stop blending into mush: 'everything is bad' looks like a solid wall, but inside there turn out to be two or three separate things - say, hurt at your mom, tiredness and worry about work - and each can be dealt with on its own. Psychologists have a name for this skill - emotional granularity: the ability to tell close feelings apart instead of filing them all under 'bad'. On the interactive wheel there is nothing to type: three taps and the word is found.

On this page

How is the EmoFlow-AI feelings wheel built?

The wheel has three rings, and each one is more exact than the one before. The centre holds 7 broad categories: Angry, Disgusted, Sad, Happy, Surprised, Bad, Fearful. They are too wide to be 'your' word, but they are an easy place to start. The middle ring has 41 more exact words. Under Sad they are Hurt, Depressed, Guilty, Despair, Vulnerable, Lonely. No longer 'sad in general' - a direction. The outer ring has the 82 most exact words, and they are what the whole wheel is for. Under Despair, for example, they are Powerless and Grief.

What can you mark on the wheel besides the feeling itself?

The word is only the first mark. A paper wheel ends there; here the check-in records four more things, each in one tap. Several feelings at once. Hurt, ashamed and angry at the same time is ordinary, and you can mark all three instead of choosing the 'main' one. Two or three are enough: ten words will not make the reading more exact, the picture just blurs. How strong it is. A slider up to 10. Irritation at 3 and at 9 are different states, and the reading does not mix them up. What is going on around you: poor sleep, overwhelmed, conflict. You mark it if it is there. What you feel like doing: approach, withdraw, fight or freeze. The feeling and the urge do not always match, and the reading notices. Sad but wanting to fight - the anger may be covering pain. Angry but wanting to pull away - showing the anger may not feel safe right now, so it stays inside. One word alone does not show this. In Pro there is a fifth mark - the area of life: work, partner, family, social, personal. None of this is required: you can pick a word and go straight to the reading. But with these marks the reading is more exact: it takes in not only the feeling itself but its strength, the background and your reaction.

What does the AI reading show after you pick on the wheel?

The words you pick on the wheel are only the start. Stop there and you get 'sad because sad'. A paper wheel ends exactly at that point. Here, right after you pick, an AI reading arrives: a few paragraphs in plain language about what is behind that mix of feelings. It speaks about five things. What the feeling is telling you. Anger - something important is under threat, a boundary or a value has been crossed. Fear - danger is near. Sadness - something important is leaving. Anxiety - something ahead needs preparing for. Shame - a value has been crossed and you want to put it right. Powerlessness - do not spend strength on what cannot be won right now. Loneliness - close contact is missing. Which need is touched. Anger can point to respect or autonomy, sadness to a loss or to missing closeness, fear to safety, loneliness to belonging, powerlessness to being able to change something. What is missing right now. The opposite feeling hints at it: powerlessness lacks the sense that what you do changes anything, loneliness lacks real contact. Whether this is the first feeling or it is covering another. Anger on the outside and hurt underneath. Anxiety on top and, under it, a fear that feels shameful to show. Apathy on the surface and, inside, anger you do not allow yourself. What the feeling is trying to do for you. An unpleasant feeling has a job too: anger protects what matters, anxiety gets you ready for something hard, powerlessness saves your strength for what is doable, sadness helps you let go. The reading describes how such a mix tends to work; it does not diagnose.

You found the word. What do you do with it next?

The reading explains what you feel and why. What to do about it is the next question, and a paper wheel does not answer it at all: it leaves you with a word and a search for 'what helps with anxiety'. In EmoFlow-AI that is the job of the AI coach in Pro. It does not start from a blank page: it already has your check-in from the wheel. The coach asks a few more questions to get your situation clear, picks one of 80+ techniques from CBT, DBT and ACT and walks you through it right in the conversation, step by step. That is guided self-help: nothing to look up or study first, no appointment to book or pay for. The coach remembers which techniques helped and which did not fit, and starts from there next time. You can try it before paying: 3 free coach sessions come with the trial plan after sign-in.

Where did emotion wheels come from, and what is ours built on?

There is no single 'official' feelings wheel. Three are the most widely known. Robert Plutchik's wheel (1980): 8 basic emotions in pairs of opposites - joy and sadness, trust and disgust, fear and anger, surprise and anticipation. His rings show strength: rage at the centre, annoyance at the edge. Gloria Willcox's Feeling Wheel (1982): 6 feelings at the centre, and the rings lead from the broad word to the exact one. The Geneva Emotion Wheel (Scherer, 2005) was made for research, not for everyday use. Our wheel works on the second principle, from broad to exact. It builds on Paul Ekman's work on universal emotions and on the Willcox wheel, expanded to 130 words: the more exactly the feeling is named, the more exact the reading and the coach's choice of technique.

Key Benefits

The exact word out of 130 instead of 'bad' - in three taps, nothing to type
An AI reading right after you pick: what may be behind that mix of feelings
A short coping step right after your check-in
The reading takes in several feelings at once, their strength and your reaction
Free and with no account: entries stay on your own dashboard and are stored in your browser
Week and month charts and a PDF report on any plan - one you can show a therapist
In Pro the AI coach picks a technique for your check-in and walks you through it in the conversation
In Pro, after a session: a deep AI analysis of how it went and how your state changed, plus a week and month overview from the AI

How to Use

1
Find your category in the centre
Look at the seven words in the centre - Angry, Disgusted, Sad, Happy, Surprised, Bad, Fearful - and pick the one that is closest. For example: 'Definitely not happy and not surprised. Somewhere between sad and fearful. Sad, I think, is closer.' Do not think for long, take the first one that answers. You cannot get it wrong: the centre only shows which way to look, and if the sector turns out not to be yours, you simply move to the one next to it.
2
Follow the sector out to the middle ring
From the category you picked, move your eyes outward - the words there are more exact. Under Sad there are six: Hurt, Depressed, Guilty, Despair, Vulnerable, Lonely. Read them and try each one on: 'Lonely? No. Vulnerable? Not quite. Despair? Closer.' This is not the answer yet, it is a signpost. If a word fits only roughly, do not stop on it - keep looking in the same direction: the most exact words are on the outer ring.
3
Reach the outer ring and tap your word
Behind every word of the middle ring there are two of the most exact ones. Behind Despair they are Powerless and Grief. 'Powerless - yes, that is it: I cannot change this situation.' Tap the word and it is marked; tap again and the mark comes off. If the perfect word is not there, take the closest: 'roughly about me' works better than a general 'sad'. If there are several feelings inside, mark one or two more.
4
Mark how strong it is and open the reading
A line appears under the wheel: 'How strong?'. It holds a slider up to 10, three marks for what is going on around you (poor sleep, overwhelmed, conflict) and a question about what you feel like doing: approach, withdraw, fight or freeze. One more tap and the AI reading is in front of you: what may be behind that mix of feelings. No account is needed for this: the entry is saved to your dashboard and stored in your browser.

An example reading: Anxious and Powerless, strength around 5

Say you marked Anxious and Powerless on the wheel, strength around 5. Here is what the reading draws out of that mix. In the app it comes as connected text; here it is laid out point by point so you can see what it is made of.

What they are telling you: anxiety - something ahead needs attention; powerlessness - somewhere you cannot change things, and your strength goes into saving mode.

Which needs are touched: certainty, being able to act, support.

What is missing: the sense that you are safe and that what you do changes something.

First feeling, or covering another: it may be the first one - the load really is more than you can recover from. Or it may be covering anger at the situation that is hard to allow yourself.

What these feelings are doing for you: anxiety gets you ready, powerlessness saves your strength. Both are on your side.

The takeaway: this is not a malfunction, it is an understandable answer to overload. What to do about it next is the coach's job.

What to remember about the reading

An emotion is a signal, not a diagnosis.
You do not need to get rid of an emotion - you need to hear what it is saying.
If the reading 'missed', that is information too: another feeling may be hiding under the one you picked. Go back to the wheel and mark one more.
The reading offers one way to read it; whether it is right is for you to decide.

A paper wheel and the interactive wheel: what changes

	Paper wheel or PDF	Our interactive wheel
How many words	As many as fit on the sheet.	130 in three rings: 7 categories, 41 more exact words, 82 most exact ones.
Several feelings at once	You can circle two or three, but the sheet does not connect them.	You mark several and the reading treats them as one mix.
How strong it is	Nowhere to mark it: irritation at 3 and at 9 look the same.	A slider up to 10, and the reading takes it into account.
What comes after the word	The sheet ends there.	An AI reading of what may be behind that mix, and a short coping step.
What keeps coming back	Each sheet stands alone: to see what repeats you have to keep them and compare by hand.	Entries build up on your dashboard: you see which emotions repeat and at what time of day.
What to do next	Look it up yourself.	In Pro the AI coach picks a technique for that check-in and walks you through it in the conversation.
Price	Free.	The wheel and the reading are free with no account; the coach is in Pro.

Research Evidence

Lieberman et al. (2007): when people put the emotion in an unpleasant picture into words, the brain's alarm response was weaker than with other ways of looking at the same picture. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01916.x

Barrett, Gross, Christensen and Benvenuto (2001): 53 people kept a diary for 14 days; those who told their unpleasant feelings apart in more detail regulated them more often, most of all when the feelings were intense. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930143000239

Kashdan, Barrett and McKnight (2015), a review: under intense distress, people who tell their feelings apart in more detail are less likely to turn to heavy drinking or aggression. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721414550708

Barrett (2017), the book How Emotions Are Made: the source of the '30 percent more flexible' summary. https://how-emotions-are-made.com/notes/Negative_emotional_granularity

Ekman (1992): the case for basic emotions shared by all people. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699939208411068

Willcox (1982): the Feeling Wheel with six feelings at the centre. https://doi.org/10.1177/036215378201200411

Plutchik (2001): his wheel of eight basic emotions. https://doi.org/10.1511/2001.4.344

Scherer (2005): the Geneva Emotion Wheel, made for research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0539018405058216

Sources: Lieberman, M. D., Eisenberger, N. I., Crockett, M. J., Tom, S. M., Pfeifer, J. H., & Way, B. M. (2007). Putting feelings into words. Psychological Science, 18(5), 421-428. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01916.x, Barrett, L. F., Gross, J., Christensen, T. C., & Benvenuto, M. (2001). Knowing what you're feeling and knowing what to do about it. Cognition & Emotion, 15(6), 713-724. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930143000239, Kashdan, T. B., Barrett, L. F., & McKnight, P. E. (2015). Unpacking emotion differentiation. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 24(1), 10-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721414550708, Barrett, L. F. (2017). How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. https://how-emotions-are-made.com, Ekman, P. (1992). An argument for basic emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 6(3-4), 169-200. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699939208411068, Willcox, G. (1982). The Feeling Wheel. Transactional Analysis Journal, 12(4), 274-276. https://doi.org/10.1177/036215378201200411, Plutchik, R. (2001). The nature of emotions. American Scientist, 89(4), 344-350. https://doi.org/10.1511/2001.4.344, Scherer, K. R. (2005). What are emotions? And how can they be measured? Social Science Information, 44(4), 695-729. https://doi.org/10.1177/0539018405058216

Sources

Putting Feelings Into Words (Lieberman et al., 2007) - Psychological Science
Knowing what you're feeling and knowing what to do about it (Barrett et al., 2001) - Cognition & Emotion
Unpacking Emotion Differentiation (Kashdan, Barrett & McKnight, 2015) - Current Directions in Psychological Science
The Feeling Wheel (Willcox, 1982) - Transactional Analysis Journal
The Nature of Emotions (Plutchik, 2001) - American Scientist

How the interactive EmoFlow-AI wheel differs from a picture of a wheel

A picture of a wheel gives you a word and ends there. In EmoFlow-AI the wheel is the first step in working out your situation. Check-in: on the 130-emotion wheel you mark one or several feelings, their strength and your reaction. Reading: the AI explains right away what may be behind that mix and gives a short coping step. This part is free and needs no account. Coach (Pro): takes that check-in, asks a few more questions to get your situation clear, picks one of 80+ techniques from CBT, DBT and ACT and walks you through it in the conversation, step by step. After the session - a deep AI analysis of how it went and how your state changed. Journal: you do not have to keep it, it builds itself out of check-ins and sessions. Week and month overview (Pro): what repeated, what helped, how the intensity moved. Every next check-in adds one more point to that picture.

130 emotions in 7 categories and 3 rings
Several feelings at once, their strength and your reaction
An AI reading and a short coping step after every check-in
No account needed; on Free your entries are stored in your browser
Week and month charts, PDF report
Pro: the AI coach and 80+ techniques from CBT, DBT and ACT
Pro: a deep AI analysis of every session, a week and month overview

Open the wheel for free

How the coach picks and adapts a practice for you

For therapists and counsellors

Between sessions your client marks on the 130-emotion wheel what they feel and how strongly, and arrives not with 'it was a bad week' but with 'Tuesday - Powerless, intensity 7'. A PDF report with those entries is available to the client on any plan. In Pro you get your own dashboard through a link: the client's charts for the week and AI notes written for a professional. There is nothing to log in to; the link opens in a browser. Only the client switches the link on and off, and you see exactly what they chose to share. The app does not replace your work: it keeps what tends to get lost between sessions.

Clients arrive with exact words, not 'it was bad'
Your own dashboard through a link, no sign-up on your side
You see which techniques the client went through with the coach
Only the client switches access on and off

More for therapists

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. The interactive EmoFlow-AI feelings wheel opens in a browser, with nothing to install and no account: 130 emotions, you can mark several at once and set how strong they are. After you pick, an AI reading arrives - what may be behind that mix of feelings - along with a short coping step. Entries stay on your dashboard and are stored in your browser. On a phone the wheel installs like an app. The Pro plan is for the AI coach, which picks a technique and walks you through it. 3 free coach sessions come with the trial plan after sign-in.

Do not start with 'what am I feeling?' - that is exactly the question with no answer yet. Open the wheel and look at the seven words in the centre: Angry, Disgusted, Sad, Happy, Surprised, Bad, Fearful. Pick the one that is even slightly closer and move outward from it, to the more exact words. If none fits, take Bad: under it are Bored, Busy, Stressed and Tired - states that are easy to mistake for 'nothing much'. You cannot get it wrong: mark the closest, read the AI reading, and come back to the wheel if it is not about you.

Yes. Feelings rarely come one at a time: you can be anxious and glad together, or sad and relieved. On the wheel you mark everything that is there, and the AI reading takes the mix, not a single word: what these feelings mean together and whether one may be covering another. Two or three words are enough. Marking ten will not make the reading more exact, the picture just blurs.

After you pick a word, a line appears under the wheel - 'How strong?' - with a slider up to 10. Irritation at 3 and at 9 are different states, and the AI reading takes that into account. In Pro the intensity also changes what the coach does: at 8 and above it first helps you calm down and only then turns to the thoughts. On your dashboard these marks show how the intensity of your feelings moved from day to day.

A PDF feelings wheel is static: you look at it, maybe circle a word, and that is all. On the interactive wheel you mark your feelings, how strong they are and your reaction, and the AI sends back a reading right away: what may be behind that mix. Entries stay on your dashboard, so you can see what repeats. In Pro the AI coach takes it from there and walks you through a technique. And you can still get a PDF here: a report exports on any plan.

A feelings wheel and an emotion wheel are two names for the same chart: words laid out in a circle, broad ones at the centre, exact ones on the outside. An emotion chart is a flat list you simply read. Wheels differ among themselves too: on some the rings show how strong an emotion is, on others they lead from a broad word to an exact one. Ours is the second kind; intensity is marked separately, with a slider up to 10, and after you pick an AI reading arrives - neither a picture nor a chart does that.

At the centre of our wheel there are seven categories: Angry, Disgusted, Sad, Happy, Surprised, Bad and Fearful. The number depends on the wheel: Robert Plutchik has eight basic emotions, Gloria Willcox has six. The centre is only there to pick a direction. The exact word lies further out: 41 words in the middle ring, 82 in the outer one, 130 in all. So it is not worth stopping at 'sad': under it are six more exact words, and behind each of those two more.

The wheel itself is a way of laying out words, not a measuring instrument, and there is no single 'validated' version. What has been tested is what it rests on. In a brain-imaging study, when people put the emotion in an unpleasant picture into words, the brain's alarm response was weaker than with other ways of looking at the same picture (Lieberman et al., 2007). And according to a review of studies, people who tell their feelings apart in more detail are less likely to turn to heavy drinking or aggression when badly distressed (Kashdan, Barrett & McKnight, 2015).

There is no schedule. The wheel is for the moment when something hits you or just feels 'off': you open it, mark what is there, read the reading. It takes a few taps. If you check in several times a week, your dashboard starts to show which emotions repeat and at what time of day. There are no streaks and no day counters in the app: the reason to come back is the picture, not a tick in a box.

Yes, and that is the free part: the word, the AI reading and a short coping step come without the coach and without an account. What a single check-in cannot show is whether the same thing comes back week after week and which technique helps you in particular. That only shows across several entries side by side. In Pro the AI coach takes your check-in, picks a technique and walks you through it, and the week and month overview from the AI shows what repeated and what helped.

EmoFlow-AI provides evidence-based education - not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment - and is not a substitute for a qualified mental-health professional. If you are in crisis or may harm yourself, contact local emergency services or a crisis line now.

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