animator

noun

an·​i·​ma·​tor ˈa-nə-ˌmā-tər 

plural animators

: someone or something that animates: such as

a

: an artist who is involved in creating animation for cartoons, films, video games, etc.

b

: a person who leads and encourages participation in an activity

… community animators mobilize individuals and organizations …

—Laura Payton and Bruce Deachman

Examples of animator in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The visual effects artists and animators then got to work creating digital Martians that would have the handmade, idiosyncratic style Burton originally intended to achieve with stop-motion. — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 11 Aug. 2026

Studios are firing skilled animators, then rehiring them to fix what the models get wrong. — Sadev Parikh, Washington Post, 11 Aug. 2026

Her grandfather, Ub Iwerks, was a legendary animator instrumental in the development of Mickey Mouse. — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2026

And the animators threw some fun curveballs, including making the embodiment of evil into a shirtless hottie that would make even shirtless Kirk jealous. — Chris Snellgrove, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1565, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for animator

• activator
• actuator
• agitator
• alligator
• allocator
• alternator
• annotator
• applicator
• arbitrator
• aspirator
• aviator
• calculator

Kids Definition

animator

noun

an·​i·​ma·​tor ˈan-ə-ˌmāt-ər 

: someone who makes an animated cartoon