How to Use emoticon in a Sentence

emoticon

noun
  • These have been decisions taken in the spirit of the shrug emoticon.
    — Ian Parker, The New Yorker, 22 Feb. 2021
  • Musk even replied to the original tweet with his favorite emoticon, the cry-laugher.
    — Matt Novak, Forbes, 5 Feb. 2023
  • These emotions are shown through happy, neutral and angry emoticons.
    — Amit Gandhi, Forbes.com, 15 Apr. 2025
  • The new designs feature the band's iconic tongue emoticon and black and red colorways.
    — People Staff, Peoplemag, 26 June 2023
  • Also, glad to know the <3 emoticon lives on with the younger generation!
    — Emma Specter, Vogue, 12 June 2026
  • Sending Facebook hugs just got easier, thanks to this new emoticon.
    — Arlene Martinez, USA TODAY, 18 Apr. 2020
  • Also, a word to the wise; when in doubt about your ability to convey subtle humor like sarcasm, add an emoticon.
    — Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 5 Sep. 2014
  • Two crucial ones were the < symbol and the number 3, which together made an emoticon heart <3.
    — Sheera Frenkel, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2023
  • For those who are unfamiliar, the yellow emoticon currently has downturned eyes and wears a white mask.
    — Dalvin Brown, USA TODAY, 7 Oct. 2020
  • Decades of texting have seen emoticons made from colon and parenthesis replaced by more obvious and emotive emojis.
    — Cody Godwin, USA TODAY, 18 Feb. 2023
  • The first use of smiley faces, often composed of a colon, dash and close parenthesis, now called emoticons, was in the 1960s.
    — Sophia Kunthara, SFChronicle.com, 6 Aug. 2019
  • The Twitter default photo has gone through a number of changes throughout the years, including a person, emoticon and a bird.
    — Queenie Wong, The Mercury News, 31 Mar. 2017
  • Someone keeps calling her on the landline and leaving voice messages and texting her mobile phone—bits of song lyrics, compliments, and emoticons.
    — David Wingrave, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Someone keeps calling her on the landline and leaving voice messages and texting her mobile phone— bits of song lyrics, compliments, and emoticons.
    — Harpers Magazine, 23 Sep. 2025
  • Partial to a smile emoticon or two, this Dane was discovered on Facebook in 2017.
    — Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 6 Feb. 2023
  • There’s a compound emoticon — Flexed biceps and Pouting face for first baseman Chase Headley.
    — Ronald Blum, The Seattle Times, 16 Aug. 2017
  • Ellison replied with a sad-face emoticon, which seemed to have understated her emotional volatility.
    — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2023
  • Instead, reading a happy face in the text of a work email made people think that the sender was less competent if the same message did not contain the emoticon, the researchers found.
    — Julia Zorthian, Time, 14 Aug. 2017
  • Ilya also shared the artwork for Grande’s album on Instagram, with the singer replying with a smiley emoticon.
    — Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 28 Apr. 2026
  • Podcasts, film clips, emoticons, and emojis are the new pictographs of an increasingly illiterate public.
    — Victor Davis Hanson, National Review, 17 Oct. 2017
  • Overuse of fancy fonts, colors, and emoticons turned plenty of AIM profiles into crimes against graphic design.
    — Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 8 Oct. 2017
  • The humble emoji—and its older cousin, the emoticon—has infiltrated the corporate world, especially in tech.
    — Lora Kelley, The Atlantic, 30 Dec. 2023
  • Hsu also shared a sweet picture of her and the actor cuddling up to each other on her Instagram last week, captioning the post simply with a smiling emoticon.
    — Shafiq Najib, Peoplemag, 1 Dec. 2022
  • The tactile and social experiences of letters are often greater than in the use of email – even with the addition of evocative emoticons and digital photos.
    — The Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Monitor, 20 Mar. 2025
  • Angry emoticons There are many similar customer complaints on Art Van's Facebook page.
    — Jc Reindl, Detroit Free Press, 9 Apr. 2020
  • An emoticon conveying the smugness felt after giving an unexpected explanation of the origins of one’s wealth and success.
    — Madeline Hester, The New Yorker, 2 July 2022
  • The boundary of the head-up display lights up green whenever a face is detected, and the display then identifies the facial expression via an emoticon, emoji, or written word.
    — Nick Haber, IEEE Spectrum, 26 Mar. 2020
  • On Twitch, while all channels are free, subscribing to a channel gives viewers perks like subscriber-only chat, subscriber-only emoticons and discounts on merchandise.
    — Laura Parker, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2017
  • By the 1990s, the Japanese turned the sideways emoticon into a single character, now known as an emoji, and a bunch of symbols.
    — Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 2 Nov. 2017
  • But all are united in their waxing nostalgic about the golden days of Buddy Lists, emoticons, and pointless chats with SmarterChild.
    — Andrea Park, Glamour, 6 Oct. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'emoticon.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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