The described technology is generally directed towards emotion detection and translation for electronic communications. An emotional state of a first communication participant can be detected, e.g., through face recognition, biometric information, and/or communication content analysis. The emotional state can be encoded in metadata that can accompany the communication content. The metadata can be translated into one or more embellishments that represent the emotional state, and the embellishments can be inserted into the communication content. The embellished communication content can then be delivered to a second communication participant.