Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

Pokémon

American  
[poh-kee-mahn, ‐key‐] / ˈpoʊ kiˌmɑn, ‐keɪ‐ /
Trademark.
  1. a media franchise including video games, animated television series, movies, card games, etc. that depict a fictional class of pet monsters and their trainers.

  2. a pet monster in this fictional world.


Etymology

Origin of Pokémon

1995–2000; shortening of Japanese Poketto Monsutā , itself a loan translation of English pocket monsters

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Elliot cites stories of people "quitting their jobs" to invest in items like Pokémon trading cards.

From BBC Aug. 12, 2026

He added: "When me and my brother started playing Pokémon together we didn't really know how to play, but a couple of months later Oliver started beating me at every game."

From BBC Aug. 8, 2026

They drew Silicon Valley investors, and the pair added Pokémon and sports cards, coins and eventually fashion, electronics and a wide range of other items, including knives, horse tack and live plants.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 5, 2026

The new Pokémon sets will detect each other, so kids can “battle,” complete with light-up effects and creature-appropriate roars and fight sounds.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 18, 2026

How’s this for pathetic: me in pajama pants and a questionably clean T-shirt from Mom’s law firm picnic, smeared in Cheeto dust, on the couch watching YouTube videos of Pokémon dancing to Kesha songs.

From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training