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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.

According to a San Francisco Police Department media release, on May 28, a male met up with a potential buyer to sell his Pokémon trading cards.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2026

"We were not involved in its creation or distribution," said Pokémon spokeswoman Sravanthi Dev.

From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026

Games that have just been released, like Pokémon Pokopia and Tomodachi Life have received positive online attention, and sales are strong.

From Barron's • May 8, 2026

Last year at its annual meeting, GameStop said it was expanding its own collectibles business, including sports and Pokémon trading cards.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 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

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