animation

noun

an·​i·​ma·​tion ˌa-nə-ˈmā-shən 

plural animations

1

: the act of animating : the state of being animate or animated

2

: a movie, scene, or sequence that simulates movement from a series of still frames (such as drawings, computer graphics, or photographs of inanimate objects moved incrementally)

His work often condenses stories of intricate subjects into brief looping animations.

—Paul Tough

The work, titled Bigger Christmas Trees, was created on an iPad and features ten minutes of animation.

—Julia Binswanger

And as the animation above shows, this tilt causes the Moon's shadow to miss the Earth.

—Tom Yulsman

3

: the preparation of animation (as for animated cartoons, video games, commercials, etc.)

Synonyms of animation

• brightness
• liveliness
• vigorousness
• exuberance
• cheerfulness
• vibrancy
• briskness
• vitality
• sprightliness
• vibrance
• robustness
• enthusiasm
• spirit
• jazziness

Examples of animation in a Sentence

The animation for the film took over two years to complete.

The studio used computer animation for some of the special effects.

The website has hundreds of animations you can download.

Recent Examples on the Web

Bub, created by artist Case Jernigan and designer Todd Anderson, combines stop-motion animation, paper craft, and gameplay to follow a New York artist confronting creativity, childhood memories, and illness. — George Nelson, ARTnews.com, 21 July 2026

The animation is often rudimentary, particularly in outer-space scenes that are effectively a cut-out of a starship being dragged across a stellar background. — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 17 July 2026

The animation style is simple and stylized, like an old comic strip, with bold use of color and shadow that creates real atmosphere and danger. — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 17 July 2026

The animation community feels that list should be substantially larger. — Clayton Davis, Variety, 17 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing animation

• suspended animation
• with animation

Rhymes for animation

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation

Kids Definition

animation

noun

an·​i·​ma·​tion ˌan-ə-ˈmā-shən 

1

: the state of being animate or animated

2

a

: a film made by photographing a series of positions of objects (as puppets)

b

: animated cartoon

3

: the making of animations

Medical Definition

animation

noun

an·​i·​ma·​tion ˌan-ə-ˈmā-shən 

: the state of being animate or animated see suspended animation