$re = '/(?<!&#([0-46-9]\d|5[0-8]))(?<!&#\d{3})(?<!&[a-z])(?<!&[a-z]{2})(?<!&[a-z]{3})(?<!&[a-z]{4})(?<!&[a-z]{5})(?<!&[a-z]{6})(?<!&[a-z]{7})(?<!&[a-z]{8});\)/m';
$str = 'Should work
;)
;)
hey;)
nbsp;)
Should NOT work
)
ɘ)
)';
preg_match_all($re, $str, $matches, PREG_SET_ORDER, 0);
// Print the entire match result
var_dump($matches);
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php