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

One top exec, asked about the possible move, texted back a woozy-face emoji. — Todd Spangler, Variety, 18 Aug. 2026

Many left heart emojis for Cattrall as well, sending their love. — Marina Watts, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Aug. 2026

The actress captioned the post with two emojis and the hashtag #Mommy. — Emma Banks, PEOPLE, 17 Aug. 2026

The owners announced their store’s closure on Instagram and Facebook, where long-time customers flooded the comment section with sad face emojis and memories of the store. — Delia Sauer, Miami Herald, 15 Aug. 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