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

Claim your signature emoji If your name sits in a feed without any visual distinction, it might get lost as people scroll through updates. —Jodie Cook, Forbes, 21 Mar. 2025

The Instagram user dropped by the comments section to add the throwing up emoji. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 21 Mar. 2025

Amid the thousands of positive messages and likes, one user left a vomiting emoji in the comments section. —Latoya Gayle, People.com, 21 Mar. 2025

Boston's emoji Powered by Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Boston. —Mike Deehan, Axios, 20 Mar. 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