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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
Callum Booth, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024
Even so, there remains a slightly amateurish quality to the project, involving on-the-nose dialogue and an odd tic whereby the actors tend to emote with their eyebrows — whereas Washington’s power comes from how much her character appears to be keeping inside.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 6 Dec. 2024
One need only look at Favreau’s picture, with its dissonant spectacle of lifelike animals forced to emote and talk like humans, to understand the expressive power of animation.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 24 July 2024
Of course, people will emote internally and potentially externally.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes, 29 Oct. 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 22 Dec. 2024.
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