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

Some social media users claimed Parrish appeared to react to the post with white heart and crown emojis, though the interaction was later deleted. —Deirdre Durkan, PEOPLE, 16 Apr. 2026

Captioning her post with a simple heart emoji, Hurley posed with her pet cat. —Hannah Malach, InStyle, 10 Apr. 2026

Shortly after, Quavo, who was a part of Migos alongside Offset and the late Takeoff, posted a prayer-hands emoji on his Instagram Story. —Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 7 Apr. 2026

People also often use numbers or emojis to communicate their meaning indirectly. —Sharlette A. Kellum, The Conversation, 6 Apr. 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