emoji

American  

[ih-moh-jee] / ɪˈmoʊ dʒi /

noun

• emoji,
  plural
• emojis
  plural

1. Digital Technology. a small digital picture or pictorial symbol that represents a thing, feeling, concept, etc., used in text messages and other electronic communications and usually part of a standardized set.

   She texted me an emoji of “money with wings,” which probably means she’s out shopping.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• emoji
  plural
• emojis
  plural

Etymology

Origin of emoji

First recorded in 1990–95; from Japanese: literally, “pictograph,” equivalent to e “picture, drawing” + moji “(written) character, letter”; cf. kaomoji ( def. )

Compare meaning

How does emoji compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• emoticon vs. emoji

Explanation

An emoji is a small icon or picture that represents an object, emotion, or reaction in a text message. On your best friend's birthday, you might text them the birthday cake, balloon, and shooting star emojis. The earliest emojis were available on Japanese cell phones in 1997. These simple pixelated images were modeled on manga art and appeared in shades of gray. Over time, emojis have become more complex and colorful — you can now send emojis that include an ear of corn, a squid, clapping hands, and a pair of scissors. The Japanese emoji translates as "character picture," and was first used in English around 2008.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

emoji emojis

Microsoft AI director Mustafa Suleyman, who in September criticised rival firm Anthropic for treating AI like it is human, reacted to Anthropic's update with a melting face emoji.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Ohtani responded with a salute emoji, Roberts said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

The name of the app—Hugging Face—was a placeholder they had put on their application for the program, based on the title of their favorite emoji.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

The company's cutesy name comes from an emoji, smiling with open hands to convey human warmth.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

I pull out my phone, sending a thumbs-up emoji to Will.

From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott

The post, archived by the Santa Barbara Independent, was captioned “meet the gc,” or group chat, and included a caption with several ninja emojis.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

While some users warned in the comments that the posts are scams, many others responded with hearts and blowing-kiss emojis.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026

You can get a lot of retweets by referring to the “land of the free” with bald eagle and American flag emojis as you drive over the bridge from Canada.

From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026

John Legere, T-Mobile’s CEO at the time who pitched the company as the “Un-carrier,” sprinkled emojis throughout his communications, answered customer complaints on social media and attracted subscribers with discounts and flexible contract terms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

Then she would scroll through old messages from Claire, emojis and xoxo’s and notes that were so private that Maya would throw her phone into a toilet before she let anyone read them.

From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway