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

Further clues seemed to come with McCartney using emojis of birds in his recent media. —Chris Willman, Variety, 26 Mar. 2026

The post included emojis of a smartphone and sound. —Dylan Butts, CNBC, 26 Mar. 2026

Words are better at suggesting ambiguity than plain numbers or emojis. —Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2026

Apple iPhone users have eight new emojis to blast at their friends, and new features in Apple Music to enjoy. —Mike Snider, USA Today, 25 Mar. 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