The study is devoted to the experimental study of semantic similarities and differences in the assessments of verbal designations of basic emotions in adult and child samples — the focus is on the regularities of assessing basic emotions by children and adults using the semantic differential in terms of affective polar concepts. A comparative analysis of assessments of verbal designations of basic emotions by children and adults was carried out, which showed their coincidence in 72% of cases. The differences between adults and children are that adults rate them more pronounced (with the exception of “surprise”). The semantic differential developed taking into account age characteristics can be used to verify emoji expressions of basic emotions.