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
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Britt PetersonExamples of emoji in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
For each of the statements above, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth replied with a waving hand emoji.
—Callum Sutherland, Time, 14 Oct. 2025
But, despite the language differences, TikTok users united in their joy at the lighthearted clip, with most comments featuring a laughter emoji.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025
Aniyah wrote, stamping it with several heart emojis.
—Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 13 Oct. 2025
James later shared the ad on social media with winking and tongue-sticking-out emojis; much of his audience, however, was not so amused, and one lifelong fan even sued.
—Robert Abitbol, USA Today, 11 Oct. 2025
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Callum Sutherland, Time, 14 Oct. 2025
But, despite the language differences, TikTok users united in their joy at the lighthearted clip, with most comments featuring a laughter emoji.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025
Aniyah wrote, stamping it with several heart emojis.
—Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 13 Oct. 2025
James later shared the ad on social media with winking and tongue-sticking-out emojis; much of his audience, however, was not so amused, and one lifelong fan even sued.
—Robert Abitbol, USA Today, 11 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for emoji
Cite this Entry
“Emoji.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emoji. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
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