emo
emo — noun
- emosingular
- emosplural
1. a genre of popular music rooted in punk, with lyrics that dwell on the singer's
a genre of popular music rooted in punk, with lyrics that dwell on the singer's personal feelings, sadness, and private struggles rather than on political or social topics.
Wei listened to emo every evening after finishing his homework.
uncountable, no article needed
The small club became famous for hosting the best emo bands from across the country.
collocation: emo band
Sade's first album mixed fast punk guitar with slow, emotional emo lyrics about heartbreak.
By 2005, emo had become one of the most popular music genres among high school students.
- emocore
the earlier, more specific name for the original 1980s–90s subgenre
用法筆記
This sense is uncountable. You can say 'I like emo' or 'emo music', but not 'an emo' to mean a song. For the person who likes this music, see the second noun sense.
常見錯誤
2. someone, usually a teenager, who is a passionate follower of emo music and adopt
someone, usually a teenager, who is a passionate follower of emo music and adopts its look — typically dressed in black, with slim-fit jeans and long dark hair partly over the face — and is perceived as deeply sensitive or emotionally troubled.
The emos stood in line for hours to buy tickets for the farewell concert.
countable plural: emos
Ari's mother worried when Ari became an emo and started wearing only black clothes.
become an emo — identity change
A group of emos sat under a tree, sharing headphones and talking about bands.
Quinn's classmates called her an emo because of her long black bangs and shy nature.
- emo kid
informal, sometimes used dismissively
用法筆記
Can be used as a neutral label for someone in the subculture, but is also sometimes used as a mild insult to dismiss a person as overly sensitive or dramatic. See also the adjective sense 'having and expressing strong feelings'.
常見錯誤
emo — adjective
- emopositive
- more emocomparative
- most emosuperlative
1. connected with the music, fashion, style, or attitudes of the emo subculture.
connected with the music, fashion, style, or attitudes of the emo subculture.
Mia bought tight black jeans from the emo fashion section at a thrift store.
collocation: emo fashion
Tomás kept his emo hairstyle through high school, with long bangs covering one eye.
collocation: emo hairstyle
The emo scene in Taipei was small but very welcoming to new fans.
Shirin decorated her bedroom walls with posters of emo bands and handwritten song lyrics.
用法筆記
This sense is used before nouns (attributive position) to describe things that belong to the emo subculture. For describing a person's emotional state, see the next sense.
2. openly showing very strong feelings such as sadness, anger, or sensitivity, ofte
openly showing very strong feelings such as sadness, anger, or sensitivity, often in a way that seems exaggerated or overly dramatic to other people.
Eric felt a bit emo after the film and took a minute to calm down.
predicative: get emo — become emotional
Nila's emo poem about losing her cat moved the whole class to tears.
attributive: emo poem — expressing strong feeling
Stop being so emo about a small mistake — we can fix it before the deadline.
Daniel wrote an emo song about saying goodbye to his hometown when he moved away.
- stoic
describes someone who hides their feelings rather than showing them openly
- unemotional
neutral opposite, lacking strong feelings
用法筆記
Common in informal speech. Can be mildly critical when used to describe a person's behaviour ('Don't be so emo'), but can also be neutral when describing art or creative work ('an emo poem'). Distinguish from the first adjective sense: this one describes a feeling or mood, not the subculture.