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

The April 22 Instagram carousel included a picture of Stause's partner G Flip and a little girl whose face was covered with a heart emoji. —Charna Flam, People.com, 26 Apr. 2025

Listen to this article 2 min Breece Hall got New York Jets fans pretty nervous with just one emoji. —Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 24 Apr. 2025

Netflix’s 'Adolescence,' toxic masculinity and what these emoji really mean What signs should parents look for that their child could be falling into the manosphere? —Rachel Hale, USA Today, 18 Apr. 2025

Sorry for the subject whiplash here, but what is your favorite emoji? Welcome to my brain. —Sam Reed, Glamour, 17 Apr. 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