animate

adjective

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an·i·mate | \ ˈa-nə-mət

Definition of animate

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : possessing or characterized by life : alive

2 : full of life : animated

3 : of or relating to animal life as opposed to plant life

4 : referring to a living thing an animate noun

animate

verb

an·i·mate | \ ˈa-nə-ˌmāt

animated; animating

Definition of animate (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to give spirit and support to : encourage

2a : to give life to

b : to give vigor and zest to

3 : to move to action a criminal animated by greed

4a : to make or design in such a way as to create apparently spontaneous lifelike movement animate a cartoon

b : to produce in the form of an animated cartoon animate a story

Other Words from animate Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym Did you know? More Example Sentences Learn More About animate

Choose the Right Synonym for animate

Verb

quicken, animate, enliven, vivify mean to make alive or lively. quicken stresses a sudden renewal of life or activity especially in something inert. the arrival of spring quickens the earth animate emphasizes the imparting of motion or vitality to what is or might be mechanical or artificial. happiness animated his conversation enliven suggests a stimulus that arouses from dullness or torpidity. enlivened her lectures with humorous anecdotes vivify implies a freshening or energizing through renewal of vitality. new blood needed to vivify the dying club

Examples of animate in a Sentence

Adjective The lecture was about ancient worship of animate and inanimate objects. an animate dance routine that will really get the blood pumping Verb The writer's humor animates the novel. The film's very realistic dinosaurs were animated on computers.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective This time the town is not empty but crowded with animate memories. — Andrew Delbanco, The New York Review of Books, 19 Nov. 2020 Ethics begins by recognizing that entities of this Earth are both material and animate. — Kathleen Dean Moore, The Conversation, 20 Oct. 2021 This time the town is not empty but crowded with animate memories. — Andrew Delbanco, The New York Review of Books, 19 Nov. 2020 This time the town is not empty but crowded with animate memories. — Andrew Delbanco, The New York Review of Books, 19 Nov. 2020 In all of these religions – which include Hellenic paganism, druidry and heathenism, among others – both the Earth and the spirits that are believed to reside in animate and inanimate objects are seen as sacred. — Helen A. Berger, The Conversation, 20 Oct. 2021 This time the town is not empty but crowded with animate memories. — Andrew Delbanco, The New York Review of Books, 19 Nov. 2020 This time the town is not empty but crowded with animate memories. — Andrew Delbanco, The New York Review of Books, 19 Nov. 2020 This time the town is not empty but crowded with animate memories. — Andrew Delbanco, The New York Review of Books, 19 Nov. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Connecting to the whys, and creating hierarchy and consistency in our wants can motivate and animate us to invest the hard work, develop clear strategies, and chart effective implementation plans. — Rajshree Agarwal, Forbes, 4 Jan. 2022 What must have caught the attention of prehistoric bone flutists was the sorcery of giving voice to a no longer animate object. — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 27 Dec. 2021 The president would also do well to get out on the road and animate his values and his fights. — Faiz Shakir, The New Republic, 3 Nov. 2021 Some two-dozen sculptures from various galleries continue to animate the Tuileries as part of Fiac’s outdoor programming, and Lilian Bourgeat’s humongous bench, as high as a garden shed, has proven especially popular for photo ops. — Amy Verner, Vogue, 28 Oct. 2021 The idea here is to visualize how a minimal amount of information can animate form so that it can be recognized as human, while the most subtle changes in information can have an equally fundamental impact on our behavior. — Nargess Banks, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2021 Code compliance and structural engineering rarely animate voters the same way as taxes or crime, or even street repaving, so building safety is often relegated to the margins of municipal governance, with little attention and insufficient funding. — New York Times, 20 July 2021 One of the first in-person events in the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election centered on the issue likely to animate the entire race: homelessness. — Benjamin Oreskes, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2021 Many of the ideas and issues that animate the Democratic base can be off-putting in small towns or untethered to rural life. — New York Times, 6 Nov. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'animate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries Near animate

anima sana in corpore sano

animate

animated

Statistics for animate

Last Updated

1 Dec 2021

Cite this Entry

“Animate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/animate. Accessed 23 Jan. 2022.

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More Definitions for animate

animate

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of animate

(Entry 1 of 2)

: having life : alive or living

animate

verb

English Language Learners Definition of animate (Entry 2 of 2)

: to make (someone or something) lively or excited

: to make (something, such as a drawing) appear to move by creating a series of drawings, pictures, etc., and showing them quickly one after another : to make (something) appear to move by using the process of animation

See the full definition for animate in the English Language Learners Dictionary

animate

adjective

an·i·mate | \ ˈa-nə-mət

Kids Definition of animate

(Entry 1 of 2)

: having life

animate

verb

an·i·mate | \ ˈa-nə-ˌmāt

animated; animating

Kids Definition of animate (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : to give life or energy to : make alive or lively He was surprised at the eagerness which animated the whole team …— Jack London, The Call of the Wild

2 : to make appear to move animate a cartoon

animate

adjective

an·i·mate | \ ˈan-ə-mət