emoticon
/ɪˈmoʊtəˌkɑn/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.43 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A graphical representation of a particular emotion of the writer, used especially in SMS, email, or other electronic communication.
noun
A graphical representation of a particular emotion of the writer, used especially in SMS, email, or other electronic communication.
Example Sentences
- "A remark intended humorously is often indicated by the letter G in parentheses, for "grin," or by a sideways happy face built from punctuation marks. Such symbols are known as emoticons."
- "In a 4 by 2 experimental procedure, :) ;) :( or no emoticon were inserted alternately in simulated e-mail message mock-ups"
- "The range of interpretations was surprising broad, for instance the emoticon (-.-) had 16 possible interpretations"
- "When receiving a message like “We need to talk :(,” the emoticon implies that the conversation will involve bad or sad news. But a message like “I’m going to kill you :)” is most likely sarcastic. With text communication, in particular, it can be incredibly hard to understand intentionality — especially when there’s humor and sarcasm involved. Because of this, emoji and emoticons can be extremely useful to attach an element of feeling and emotion to the message."
- "In addition to placing emoticons by clicking icons in the pop-up panel shown in Figure 4-2, you can enter the text representation in your text chat window. For example, to show the image of the emoticon with sunglasses, you enter (cool)."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs Proto-Italic *eks Latin ex Latin ex- Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh₁éyeti Proto-Italic *moweō Latin moveō Latin ēmoveō Vulgar Latin *exmovēre Old French esmovoir Middle French esmouvoir Middle French emotionbor. English emotion Ancient Greek εἰκών (eikṓn)der. Latin īcōnbor. English icon blend English emoticon Blend of emotion + icon. Unrelated to emoji.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɪˈmoʊtəˌkɑn/
- British English: /ɪˈməʊtɪˌkɒn/
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Emoticons appendix