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 official Love Is Blind account also expressed its approval by commenting seven smiling face with heart-eyes emojis. —Ashlyn Robinette, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025

GloRilla commented on said post with three heart-eye emojis, giving fans more ammunition and alluding to a romantic connection. —Elizabeth Ayoola, Essence, 24 Oct. 2025

Bell wrote in the caption adding a heart emoji. —Lisa Respers France, CNN Money, 23 Oct. 2025

Wilson included a couple of emojis and his old catchphrase, #LetsRide. —Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 21 Oct. 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