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The Latin word anima meaning “breath, soul” that gave us “animal” has given us other words. The English adjective animate meaning “alive” comes from the Latin verb animare, meaning “to give life to,” which in turn came from anima. A characteristic of animals is their ability to move. When a cartoon is drawn and filmed in such a way that lifelike movement is produced, it is animated. An animated film seems to have a life of its own.
Synonyms
Examples of animate in a Sentence
Isaac Arnsdorf, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2024
One thing DeSantis isn’t changing is his focus on hot-button topics that animate GOP voters.
—USA TODAY, 1 Feb. 2024
All of nature and everything in it, Cavendish held, was a completely indivisible mixture of two ingredients, animate and inanimate matter.
—Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2024
To successfully counter the anti-American narratives that animate Russian diplomacy and disinformation, the United States must make support for democratic governance and civil society a centerpiece of its foreign policy.
—Max Bergmann, Foreign Affairs, 6 Mar. 2024
The system is designed so that the motion of both robots is always coordinated, while simultaneously supporting the ability to flexibly animate individual robots–or individual parts of the robot, like the mouth and eyes.
—IEEE Spectrum, 11 Feb. 2024
The legs, both human and equine, are what animate this picture by the great El Greco.
—Washington Post, 29 June 2023
The emotions that animate finance are frequently berserk.
—WIRED, 26 Sep. 2023
Civil rights concerns animate those opposed to more crackdowns; 94 percent of those prosecuted for narcotics charges in the Bronx were Black or Latino.
—Wesley Parnell, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2023
Herb Scribner, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
Peltz had expressed political differences with Iger that animated his campaign.
—Allison Morrow, CNN, 3 Apr. 2024
These works are tributes to the curiosity about other cultures — the desire to blend your traditions with others’ and tell stories about more than just yourself — that has animated art for as long as humans have been making it.
—Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2024
Even with a mask on, she was animated, and smiled for photos with her eyes.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 2 Apr. 2024
Venus meeting Uranus gifts your words a special allure that can animate a romantic connection.
—USA TODAY, 28 Mar. 2024
The right is still animated by the Tom Cotton op-ed controversy that roiled The New York Times in 2020.
—Oliver Darcy, CNN, 28 Mar. 2024
Islamic extremist terrorism, which animated American foreign policy and defense strategy for a decade and a half after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has receded as a top-tier concern.
—Ken Dilanian, NBC News, 25 Mar. 2024
Tigar wasn’t convinced that Rearden substantiated allegations that the file was used to animate the Hulk.
—Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'animate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near animate
Cite this Entry
“Animate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/animate. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
animate
2 of 2 verb
Adjective
Middle English animate "alive," from Latin animatus (same meaning), derived from anima "soul, breath" — related to animal see Word History at animal
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