Emmy
Americannoun
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(sometimes lowercase) any of several statuettes awarded annually by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for excellence in television programming, production, or performance.
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Also Emmie a female given name, form of Emma.
noun
Usage
What are the Emmys? The Emmys is another name for the Emmy Awards, an annual award ceremony to honor excellence in television programming and production. The name Emmys most commonly refers to the Primetime Emmy Awards, which honor primetime programming, but there are also other events devoted to specific forms of programming, including the Daytime Emmys, the Sports Emmys, and the News and Documentary Emmys. The statuette awarded to winners is officially called an Emmy Award but is often referred to as an Emmy for short. The plural form Emmys is commonly used. Primetime Emmys are awarded to actors, writers, and to those in technical and production roles, as well as for specific series, including for drama, comedy, variety, and limited series. The Emmy Awards are held by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, an organization for television industry professionals that’s often simply called the Television Academy.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Emmy
C20: alteration of Immy, short for image orthicon tube
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.
Yet when a group of performers recently got onto the topic during The Envelope’s Emmy Limited Series / TV Movie Roundtable, it turned out everyone had their own way of doing it.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
As Emmy season heats up, the directors of six notable contenders share thoughts about their projects.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2026
In addition to Zendaya, who has won two Emmy awards for her performance as Rue, the cast included Hunter Schafer, Jacob Elordi and Sydney Sweeney.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026
And two platforms with a growing profile still in search of a major Emmy haul may find on nominations morning that 2026 is their year: Peacock and Paramount+.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026
Lisa Ramirez is one of the first Latina women to win an Emmy as a television producer and director.
From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
