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

Next to it, Cabello dropped four heart emojis, which received more than 85,000 likes by Tuesday. —Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 2 Sep. 2025

And Creel received that validation from the Wednesday star herself when Gaga commented on the February video with two black heart emojis. —Rachel McRady, People.com, 29 Aug. 2025

Domino’s Pizza and GrubHub pushed alerts to app users, with each referencing Swift’s songs and including a ring emoji. —Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2025

In theory, the one-on-one message feature presents an easier and faster way for users to share and react (using text or emojis) to content from their friends, parents, or siblings. —Elisabeth Sherman, Parents, 28 Aug. 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