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Emote is an example of what linguists call a back-formation—that is, a word formed by trimming down an existing word. In this case, the parent word is emotion, which came to English by way of Middle French from the Latin verb emovēre, meaning "to remove or displace" (making the "removal" of the suffix -ion to form emote quite fitting). As is sometimes the case with back-formations, emote has since its coinage in the early 20th century tended toward use that is less than entirely serious. It frequently appears in humorous or deprecating descriptions of the work of actors, and is similarly used to describe theatrical behavior by nonactors.
Examples of emote in a Sentence
Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 31 Jan. 2025
The credit for how the characters emote is due to the incredible work done by our animators.
—Carolyn Giardina, Variety, 16 Jan. 2025
These songs emoted from the sheer joy of jamming with his band of brothers again.
—Melonee Hurt, The Tennessean, 23 Oct. 2024
One guy emotes about how Jameela Jamil is more important to him than the trappings of fame, while the other vents about catching hell growing up in the public eye.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 3 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for emote 
Dictionary Entries Near emote
Cite this Entry
“Emote.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emote. Accessed 11 Feb. 2025.
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