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

In the first, LeBron added a handful of heart and heart-eye emojis over a video of Savannah posing on the carpet. —Natasha Dye, People.com, 6 May 2025

The charms feature Sabre’s signature emoji twist for fun, whimsy, and a splash of French flair. —Alesandra Dubin, Travel + Leisure, 2 May 2025

Tone, grammar, emoji use, slang, and punctuation all become data points that inform its assumptions. —Diana Spehar, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025

Pissed about that, Emmett (Kellan Lutz) (heart-eye emoji) runs at Alec (Cameron Bright), shoves him into the snow (cute), and tears his head off (#LegendsOnly). —Wolfgang Ruth, Vulture, 1 May 2025

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