emoji

noun

emo·ji | \ ē-ˈmō-jē

plural emoji or emojis

Definition of emoji

: any of various small images, symbols, or icons used in text fields in electronic communication (as in text messages, e-mail, 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

Two other fans who also praised her pic include her longtime trainer, Ben Bruno, who added a hands raised and fire emoji, and MJ Day, the editor of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue who left a string of kissy face emojis. — PEOPLE.com, "Kate Upton Models Sexy Swimsuit 7 Months After Giving Birth: 'Things Are Finally Heating Up'," 6 June 2019 There are currently more than 2,800 approved emojis, and some 230 new emojis were approved in February 2019. — Marcy Oster, sun-sentinel.com, "Organization is working to make a Torah emoji happen," 5 June 2019 There are a few cool new features, such as Windows Sandbox and support for the complex kaomoji emoji. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Microsoft's Windows 10 May 2019 Update can be downloaded now: Here's how," 8 Apr. 2019 Desert Dreamin’ ✨ a first look at the master bedroom at #thatdeserthouse 🌵🏠 where’s my tumbleweed emoji?!? — Elizabeth Gulino, House Beautiful, "That Instagram-Famous Joshua Tree Home is Finally on Airbnb," 8 Mar. 2019 His flirty comment, which included a heart eye emoji, got a huge reaction from fans, but JLo has insisted that there’s no drama between her, her ex and her new fiancé, Alex Rodriguez. — Lucy Wood, Marie Claire, "Jennifer Lopez Reveals Diddy Apologized to Alex Rodriguez After Leaving a Flirty Instagram Comment," 11 Apr. 2019 Sandberg gave the testimonial equivalent of the shruggy emoji. — Peter Kafka, Recode, "Jack Dorsey survived his grueling day in D.C.," 5 Sep. 2018 Romeo simply captioned the photo with a red heart emoji. — Nicole Saunders, Harper's BAZAAR, "Victoria Beckham's 45th Birthday Party Was a Chic Family Affair and I'm Sad I Wasn't Invited," 19 Apr. 2019 Fellow singer-songwriter Julia Michaels signified her approval with a red heart emoji. — Abby Jones, Billboard, "Shawn Mendes Posts Pic With Hailey Baldwin and Fans Are Instantly Shipping Them," 4 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'emoji.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.