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

Ian, revved up by the camogie carnage and fresh off consoling Eva (eye emojis x2), takes it upon himself to tell Angelica in no uncertain terms to back off the Garvey sisters. —Caroline Framke, Vulture, 27 Nov. 2024

The family also received out-of-character texts from Hannah, which Pidgeon said contained odd phrases and an uncharacteristic lack of emojis. —Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY, 26 Nov. 2024

However, Grande sent Out a laughing emoji in response to an Instagram story the magazine posted about the viral interview, Gilchrist said. —Matt Lavietes, NBC News, 26 Nov. 2024

Kobayashi's last texts were also absent of emojis, which her family told Fox News on November 21 was very unusual. —Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 25 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Japanese, literally, "pictograph," from e "picture, drawing" + moji "letter, character"

First Known Use

1997, in the meaning defined above

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