animate

[ verb an-uh-meyt; adjective an-uh-mit ]
See synonyms for: animateanimatedanimatinganimateness on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),an·i·mat·ed, an·i·mat·ing.
  1. to give life to; make alive: God animated the dust.

  2. to make lively, vivacious, or vigorous; give zest or spirit to: Her presence animated the party.

  1. to fill with courage or boldness; encourage: to animate weary troops.

  2. to move or stir to action; motivate: He was animated by religious zeal.

  3. to give motion to: leaves animated by a breeze.

  4. to render or produce (a story, character, movie, etc.) by using animation: to animate a children's story;to animate the characters in a video game;an animated film.

adjective
  1. alive; possessing life: animate creatures.

  2. lively: an animate expression of joy.

  1. of or relating to animal life.

  2. able to move voluntarily.

  3. Linguistics. belonging to a syntactic category or having a semantic feature that is characteristic of words denoting beings regarded as having perception and volition (opposed to inanimate).

Origin of animate

1
1375–1425; late Middle English animat<Latin animātus filled with breath or air, quickened, animated (past participle of animāre). See anima, -ate1

synonym study For animate

2. Animate, invigorate, stimulate mean to enliven. To animate is to create a liveliness: Health and energy animated his movements. To invigorate means to give physical vigor, to refresh, to exhilarate: Mountain air invigorates. To stimulate is to arouse a latent liveliness on a particular occasion: Caffeine will stimulate you and keep you alert.

Other words for animate

Opposites for animate

Other words from animate

  • an·i·mate·ly, adverb
  • an·i·mate·ness, noun
  • an·i·mat·ing·ly, adverb
  • in·ter·an·i·mate, verb (used with object), in·ter·an·i·mat·ed, in·ter·an·i·mat·ing.
  • non·an·i·mate, adjective
  • non·an·i·mat·ing, adjective
  • non·an·i·mat·ing·ly, adverb
  • sem·i·an·i·mate, adjective
  • un·an·i·mat·ing, adjective
  • un·an·i·mat·ing·ly, adverb

Words Nearby animate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use animate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for animate

animate

verb(ˈænɪˌmeɪt) (tr)
  1. to give life to or cause to come alive

  2. to make lively; enliven

  1. to encourage or inspire

  2. to impart motion to; move to action or work

  3. to record on film or video tape so as to give movement to: an animated cartoon

adjective(ˈænɪmɪt)
  1. being alive or having life

  2. gay, spirited, or lively

Origin of animate

1
C16: from Latin animāre to fill with breath, make alive, from anima breath, spirit

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012