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 agent added a crying-laughing emoji. —Ruby Cramer, New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2026

Doncic posted a photo on social media of Olivia wearing a pink sweater with a heart emoji covering her face. —Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2026

The rollout of these new emojis will continue on various devices and platforms through early 2026. —Greta Cross, USA Today, 10 Mar. 2026

The latter emoji is Kelce’s signature celebration move. —Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 9 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