Emote is an example of what linguists call a back-formation—that is, a word formed by trimming down an existing word. In this case, the parent word is emotion, which came to English by way of Middle French from the Latin verb emovēre, meaning "to remove or displace" (making the "removal" of the suffix -ion to form emote quite fitting). As is sometimes the case with back-formations, emote has since its coinage in the early 20th century tended toward use that is less than entirely serious. It frequently appears in humorous or deprecating descriptions of the work of actors, and is similarly used to describe theatrical behavior by nonactors.
Examples of emote in a Sentence
He stood on the stage, emoting and gesturing wildly.
Recent Examples on the WebThanks to their advanced animatronics (and human controllers), the droids are able to emote and engage with visitors.—Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Oct. 2024 Thomas expertly emotes it all, often needing only to use her eyes.—Ebonie Walker, refinery29.com, 26 Sep. 2024 Proving his ability to emote was critical to Botha’s hiring; keeping feelings in check eventually proved just as important.—Michal Lev-Ram, Fortune, 25 July 2024 But no amount of camouflage can hide Boutella’s uncanny ability to emote through her eyes — the evocative intensity of her gaze provides her lonely aliens, demonic princesses, and vengeance-seeking warriors with robust, unspoken motivations.—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2024 See all Example Sentences for emote
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'emote.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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