The "Sad Hamster" meme features a hamster with large, expressive eyes, evoking a sense of melancholy or sadness. This meme began circulating in mid-2020, often used to represent feelings of disappointment, sadness, or pity in a humorous or relatable context. The image typically includes captions that enhance the hamster's emotional expression, making it a versatile reaction image. The meme gained popularity on social media platforms, especially Twitter and Instagram, where users creatively applied it to various situations, turning the adorable, sorrowful hamster into a widely recognized symbol of relatable sadness and cute despair.