SMS

abbreviation or noun

ˌes-ˌem-ˈes 

: a technology for sending short text messages between mobile phones

messages sent via SMS

—often used before another noun

Creative, colorful, and sometimes perplexing, emoji add energy to SMS messages.

—Christina Bonnington

also : a message sent using this technology : text message

… is helping to test a device that implants sensors in cows to let farmers know when they are in heat. When that is the case, the device sends an SMS to the farmer's phone.

—John Tagliabue

Examples of SMS in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In addition to the alert through the Cellbroadcast platform, residents of the city of São Paulo also reported receiving a message with the same content via SMS. —Mariana Catacci, CNN Money, 20 June 2026

Instead of wrestling with fragmented software setups, companies can now deploy these tools seamlessly across voice, chat, email and SMS channels. —Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 16 June 2026

Phishing campaigns created with Outsider's tools would generally start with an SMS text message directing unsuspecting users to a fake e-commerce website that would harvest their data, including credit card details. —Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 13 June 2026

That makes passkeys much harder to steal than SMS codes. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 1 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Short Message Service

First Known Use

1991, in the meaning defined above