emo

noun

ˈē-(ˌ)mō 

: a style of rock music influenced by punk rock and featuring introspective and emotionally fraught lyrics

In emo, the heart forever hurts, and the ultra-introspective songwriter pines for beautiful death.

—Robert Sullivan

emo adjective

The film is sensitively directed, full of emo songs and quiet little character moments.

—Kyle Smith

Examples of emo in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The emo icons will play a pair of nights at London’s Wembley Stadium (July 10 and July 11, 2026) for their first shows in the U.K. since 2022. —Thomas Smith, Billboard, 11 Aug. 2025

Emo Throwback Night Dig out your band tees and get ready for an emo revival night featuring the sounds that defined a generation. —Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 Aug. 2025

My ultimate conclusion is that this was the early 1980s emo musings of a teenage girl. —Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 July 2025

Then came the 2015 reboot, which was a bomb, turning the characters into sullen, moody versions of themselves (and Dr. Doom into an emo megalomaniac). —Peter Debruge, Variety, 22 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

short for emotional

First Known Use

1988, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for emo

• acknow
• aglow
• ago
• airglow
• aloe
• altho
• although
• ammo
• backflow
• backhoe
• banjo
• barbeau