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

Kobe and Vanessa also shared daughters Capri, 6; Bianka, 9; and Natalia, 23, the latter who commented on her mother’s post for Gianna with a series of heart emojis. —Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 2 May 2026

Bristy wrote, including a big-smile emoji. —Mirna Alsharif, NBC news, 1 May 2026

Beginning his video, Rochell hit back at internet users who had been criticizing the couple's use of emojis to cover their children's faces in Instagram posts. —Tabitha Parent, PEOPLE, 30 Apr. 2026

After downplaying the prospect of a new album in recent interviews, Grande began posting hints to the contrary in March, like a flower emoji in her Instagram bio. —Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 28 Apr. 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