SMS

abbreviation or noun

ˌes-ˌem-ˈes 

: a technology for sending short text messages between mobile phones

Although driven by teens and young adults who seemingly aren't satisfied with online instant messaging, SMS can be very useful for sending urgent messages to family members or co-workers.

—Consumer Reports

—often used before another noun

Creative, colorful, and sometimes perplexing, emoji add energy to SMS messages.

—Christina Bonnington

also : a message sent using this technology : text message

… is helping to test a device that implants sensors in cows to let farmers know when they are in heat. When that is the case, the device sends an SMS to the farmer's phone.

—John Tagliabue

Examples of SMS in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Beyond adding passkeys and shoring up two-factor authentication with something other than SMS, the key rule is never to use links to access accounts. —Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025

Anyone with a non-Apple phone (or an iPhone with iOS 17.6 and up) can receive regular SMS texts. —Alex Hutchinson, Outside, 12 Aug. 2025

Later, perhaps in recognition of the need for aspirational examples of workplace advancement, the specialists were officially called SMS. —Literary Hub, 6 Aug. 2025

That becomes a direct link, which can then be shared through another method, such as SMS, email, or even a rival messaging service. —PC Magazine, 5 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Short Message Service

First Known Use

1991, in the meaning defined above