emoji

noun

emo·​ji ē-ˈmō-jē 

plural emoji or emojis

: any of various small images, symbols, or icons used in text fields in electronic communication (as in text messages, email, and social media) to express the emotional attitude of the writer, convey information succinctly, communicate a message playfully without using words, etc.

The function of emoji, as [emoji developer Shigetaka] Kurita describes it—adding subtle emotional emphasis to a sentence in text—isn't too different from that of emoticons, the frowny and smiley faces that people have been making out of punctuation since the mid-1990s.

—Britt Peterson

compare emoticon

Examples of emoji in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Here's a look at some of the top words, phrases, and emojis being used by Gen Alpha right now. —Greta Cross, USA Today, 6 Sep. 2025

Another replied with a vomiting emoji. —Deirdre Bardolf, FOXNews.com, 6 Sep. 2025

Under the post that included romantic and silly shots of Neeson sprinkling some popcorn over her head, Joely left a string of red heart emojis in the comments section. —Jen Juneau, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025

GloRilla responded in the comments with three heart-eye emojis, sealing the deal with a public display of affection that sent fans into a frenzy. —Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 3 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Japanese, literally, "pictograph," from e "picture, drawing" + moji "letter, character"

First Known Use

1997, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for emoji

• koji
• logie
• shoji
• pedagogy

Kids Definition

emoji

noun

emo·​ji

ē-ˈmō-jē

plural emoji or emojis

: any of various small images, symbols, or icons used in electronic communication (as email) to express the feelings or attitude of the writer or to present information concisely or playfully