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

Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall said Deniro Laster had broken the conditions of his bond by trying to intimidate witnesses and obstruct justice, including by sending a rat emoji on Instagram to a potential witness. — Mike Vorkunov, New York Times, 12 Aug. 2026

Fans, who flooded the comments section showering her with clapping-hands and heart emojis, won't have to wait long to see the sportscaster in her new role. — Paris Close, USA Today, 10 Aug. 2026

Nobody's going out of their way for someone who haphazardly dropped a bunch of fire emojis in response to their bid for connection. — Olivia Shalhoup, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026

Tavia Hunt, wife of Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt, responded to Demmer’s post with three fire emojis. — Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 10 Aug. 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