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

In response, Jackson reshared the post on her Instagram Story and added a red heart emoji and kissy-face emoji. — Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 16 Oct. 2026

The tweet ended with an emoji of a man facepalming, conveying Johnson’s exasperation over the last play of Washington’s 27-27 tie with the New York Giants. — Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026

Several of Seyfried’s friends, including Natalie Portman, left laughing emojis in the comments. — Hannah Malach, InStyle, 7 Oct. 2026

Garrett Nussmeier and Ashton Gillotte both shared two heart emojis. — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 5 Oct. 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