: 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
Robert Sullivan
emo
adjective
The film is sensitively directed, full of emo songs and quiet little character moments.
—Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
Examples of emo in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The interplay of rhythm guitarist Chris Freeman and lead Ryan Malicsi was impressive, with fast riffing and tapping that evoked midwest emo heroes like American Football.
—William Earl, Variety, 12 Nov. 2025
Raised on a steady diet of Avril Lavigne and emo music, Wolf began experimenting with music in high school at open mic nights and restaurant gigs around Queens.
—Mackenzie Cummings-Grady, Billboard, 11 Nov. 2025
More amusingly, though, it’s wrapped up in emo aesthetics (bangs!
—Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025
But perhaps more importantly, Cork Tree helped the band become the therapists pumping through the speakers of a whole generation of skinny jean-wearing teens, igniting the pop-punk and emo music scene into a blazing force for the masses.
—Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2025
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William Earl, Variety, 12 Nov. 2025
Raised on a steady diet of Avril Lavigne and emo music, Wolf began experimenting with music in high school at open mic nights and restaurant gigs around Queens.
—Mackenzie Cummings-Grady, Billboard, 11 Nov. 2025
More amusingly, though, it’s wrapped up in emo aesthetics (bangs!
—Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025
But perhaps more importantly, Cork Tree helped the band become the therapists pumping through the speakers of a whole generation of skinny jean-wearing teens, igniting the pop-punk and emo music scene into a blazing force for the masses.
—Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for emo
Cite this Entry
“Emo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emo. Accessed 17 Nov. 2025.
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