Taboords

Subculture

What does Emo mean?

A scene that started as emotional hardcore in the 1980s and became a mall look in the 2000s: bangs, a bracelet, a band on the backpack — and a schoolyard insult.

  • Circulation: high
  • Source language: en
  • Translatable: yes

Definition

The word comes from emotional hardcore, or emocore. In 1980s Washington, D.C., Rites of Spring (Guy Picciotto, 1984) and Embrace (Ian MacKaye) moved from political hardcore to more private lyrics; Revolution Summer shows in 1985 were famous for crying in the mosh. Plenty of people in that scene hated the nickname. In the 1990s the sound shifted again, with Sunny Day Real Estate, Weezer and the Get Up Kids.

In the 2000s the name blew up outside the underground: MySpace, Hot Topic, Warped Tour, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Dashboard Confessional — bands that often refused the label. Scene grew beside it, sweeter and more MySpace. Goth is another tree, British post-punk, a long way from D.C. hardcore. Today it is still shows, a TikTok revival, and, at school, an insult for someone who “feels too much.”

Origin

English emotional hardcore, shortened to emocore and then to the clipped diminutive. The label already circulated in D.C. in the mid-80s; Thrasher is often said to have put it in print in 1986. Rites of Spring and Embrace refused the name. Dischord, MacKaye’s label, is the address of the first wave.

History

The D.C. scene was short: by 1986 the key bands had broken up. A second midwest/indie wave arrived in the 90s, with Jimmy Eat World and Promise Ring, then a third, mall-and-MTV wave in the 2000s. MySpace became the scene’s sticker album. There was violent backlash against emo teens in Mexico and Iraq, and proposed laws in Russia. In the 2010s the word cooled; in the 2020s TikTok reopens the bangs and the eyeliner.

How it emerged

Hardcore needed a diminutive for the band that shouted feeling instead of Reagan. School and the mall turned the diminutive into a look and an insult. The original records never asked for the bangs.

Usage examples

  • They called me emo for the bangs, not the discography.

  • Rites of Spring did not ask to be the first emo.

Translations

  • pt emo
  • en emo
  • es emo

Synonyms

  • emocore
  • emotional hardcore
  • scene

Related terms

Subculture E-girl An internet look: heavy blush, a heart on the face, dyed or split hair, made for the camera — and, before that, an insult in gaming. Subculture Goth A British post-punk tribe of crypt-toned bands, nightclubs and a black look that school still confuses with emo. Subculture Punk A scene of short rock, refusal and do-it-yourself: New York in the mid-1970s, London in 1976 — the mohawk came later.

By Kevin Henrique · Updated August 19, 2026