emoticon

noun

emo·ti·con i-ˈmō-ti-ˌkän

plural emoticons

: a group of keyboard characters (such as :-)) that typically represents a facial expression or suggests an attitude or emotion and that is used especially in computerized communications (such as email) compare emoji

Examples of emoticon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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Published in 2012, the text leaps, runs on, includes emoticons and ignores punctuation, just like DMs and text messages. —

Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024 When reached for comment by Fortune about his exclusion from Reddit’s S-1 filing, Ohanian replied with a shrug emoticon: ¯_(ツ)_/¯. Reddit declined to comment. —

Paolo Confino, Fortune, 23 Feb. 2024 The humble emoji—and its older cousin, the emoticon—has infiltrated the corporate world, especially in tech. —

Lora Kelley, The Atlantic, 30 Dec. 2023 Ellison replied with a sad-face emoticon, which seemed to have understated her emotional volatility. —

Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2023 See all Example Sentences for emoticon