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

Other images, apparently taken from social media, show heavily armed groups of men or the aftermath of a violent death adorned with frog emojis, apparent references to René Arzate’s nickname. —Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Feb. 2026

Themed collectibles will also be available in honor of the collaboration, with items like Hello Kitty and Friends sticker sets, themed in-game tokens and shields, dice and emojis. —Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 25 Feb. 2026

Dictionaries have highlighted, as their words of the year, brain rot and post-truth and an emoji caught between laughter and tears. —Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 24 Feb. 2026

Megan is clearly loving the color, and judging by all the heart-eye emojis in her Instagram comments, the rest of the world is too! —Kara Nesvig, Allure, 23 Feb. 2026

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