emoji

/ɪˈməʊdʒi/

//ɪˈməʊdʒi// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"emoji" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“emoji” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #21,508. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#21,508
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A digital graphic icon with a unique code point used to represent a concept, object, person, animal or place, originally used in Japanese text messaging but since adopted internationally in other c...

Corpus desk

Index EN-emoji · emoji · English

emoji · rank #21,508 · 6 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #21,508
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH embryonic

Nearest frequency peer: embryonic (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “emoji”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “emoji” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

emoji vs emo
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for emoji
PropertyValue
Headwordemoji
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɪˈməʊdʒi/
Letters5
Frequency rank#21,508
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “emoji”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).emojilands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “embryonic” (#21,507), “encountering” (#21,509), “Eiffel” (#21,506). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “emoji” is #21,508. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around emoji (IPA /ɪˈməʊdʒi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #21,508 among 2,246 “E” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A digital graphic icon with a unique code point used to represent a concept, object, person, animal or place, originally used in Japanese text messaging but since adopted internationally in other c...".

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for emoji, with forms such as "emjoi", "emmoji", and "emoij". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "emo", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Japanese 絵文字(えもじ) (emoji), from 絵(え) (e, “picture”) + 文字(もじ) (moji, “character”). False cognate of English emotion and emoticon, but the coincidental phonetic resemblance may have facilitated its adoption into English.https://www.google.co.uk/… The correct English form is emoji, spelled E-M-O-J-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    A digital graphic icon with a unique code point used to represent a concept, object, person, animal or place, originally used in Japanese text messaging but since adopted internationally in other contexts such as social media. Or, by extension, any non-standard emoji-like image inserted inline in text, i.e. an image emoticon.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how emoji appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. In order to communicate quickly, many mobile phone users use emoji characters (similar to emoticons) while sending messages. Service providers have also created a set of emoji characters and have added support for it.
  2. One of the most exciting announcements at Twitter's Chirp conference this week was "Annotated Tweets". […] The data attached doesn't have to be simple text. Twitter suggests examples such as MIDI data (for music) or emoji (for fancy emoticons).

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 絵文字(えもじ) (emoji), from 絵(え) (e, “picture”) + 文字(もじ) (moji, “character”). False cognate of English emotion and emoticon, but the coincidental phonetic resemblance may have facilitated its adoption into English.https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Loanwords_and_Japanese_Identity/VAymEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=emoji&pg=PA184

This word in other languages

emoyi(Español)emoji(Français)Emoji(Deutsch)emoji(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • emjoi
  • emmoji
  • emoij
  • emojji
  • eomji
  • meoji

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of emoji - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

emjoi2emmoji1emoij2emojji1eomji2meoji2
Edit distance from "emoji"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "emoji"?
"emoji" is spelled E-M-O-J-I. The IPA pronunciation is /ɪˈməʊdʒi/.
What does "emoji" mean?
As a noun, "emoji" means: A digital graphic icon with a unique code point used to represent a concept, object, person, animal or place, originally used in Japanese text messaging but since adopted internationally in other c...
What words are commonly confused with "emoji"?
"emoji" is commonly confused with "emo". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "emoji"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "emoji" is /ɪˈməʊdʒi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "emoji"?
Borrowed from Japanese 絵文字(えもじ) (emoji), from 絵(え) (e, “picture”) + 文字(もじ) (moji, “character”). False cognate of English emotion and emoticon, but the coincidental phonetic resemblance may have facilitated its adoption into English.https://www.goo... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "emoji", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Dyson#21,503fakes#21,513droid#21,498gated#21,525

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

Eiffel6 variantsdung6 variantsglam6 variantsgoth6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list