animate

adjective an·i·mate \ ˈa-nə-mət \

|Updated on: 11 Jul 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: animate in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of animate

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

—

animately

adverb

—

animateness

noun

See animate defined for English-language learners

See animate defined for kids

Examples of animate in a Sentence

The lecture was about ancient worship of animate and inanimate objects.
an animate dance routine that will really get the blood pumping

Recent Examples of animate from the Web

Both distinguish between an animate direct object and an inanimate one.

— The Economist, "JohnsonThe painful origins of many creole languages," 1 Feb. 2018
The goal is to persuade the public to look at these landmarks with new eyes, almost viewing them as animate characters with feelings and backstories instead of just objects to walk past.

— caitlin morton, Condé Nast Traveler, "Dublin's Statues Will Now Call Your Cell Phone," 17 Oct. 2017
Several people have stories about more animate luggage.

— ed yong, The Atlantic, "That Time the TSA Found a Scientist’s 3-D-Printed Mouse Penis," 23 May 2017

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.

Did You Know?

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.

Origin and Etymology of animate

Middle English, from Latin animatus, past participle of animare to give life to, from anima breath, soul; akin to Old English ōthian to breathe, Latin animus spirit, Greek anemos wind, Sanskrit aniti he breathes

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

animate Synonyms

Phrases

on the go;

Other Biology Terms

autochthonous, fecund, homunculus, phylogeny, substrate

animate

verb an·i·mate \ -ˌmāt \

Definition of animate

animated; animating

transitive verb

1 : to give spirit and support to : encourage

2 a : to give life to

b : to give vigor and zest to

3 : to move to action

a criminal animated by greed

4 a : 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

See animate defined for English-language learners

Examples of animate in a Sentence

The writer's humor animates the novel.
The film's very realistic dinosaurs were animated on computers.

Recent Examples of animate from the Web

Yet while the rather scholarly debates over dating and provenance might animate the geologists, that day would be remembered not for these petty theatrics, but for an address Powell delivered.

— johnforristerross, Longreads, "Taming the Great American Desert," 2 July 2018
That did plenty to animate the home fans in the colorful crowd that featured jerseys of every team in the tournament.

— joshua robinson, WSJ, "Russia Opens World Cup With 5-0 Rout of Saudi Arabia," 14 June 2018
Courts continue to give considerable weight to the undeniable public safety concerns that animate most gun regulation.

— joseph blocher and eric ruben, Vox, "The Second Amendment allows for more gun control than you think," 14 June 2018
Ori is back and perhaps even better animated than before, with even simple jumps containing a complicated series of mid-air flips and rolls to add more life into the character.

— hayden dingman, PCWorld, "Ori and the Will of the Wisps hands-on: Recapturing that magic feeling," 11 June 2018
Now an animator and motion graphics designer, one of his initial tasks on the job was to animate a scared horse for part of the earthquake exhibit.

— beth spotswood, San Francisco Chronicle, "Team works in twilight zone to bring reef to surface at Cal Academy," 11 Apr. 2018
Using it, game makers can instantly create digital facial animations, rather than having to animate those characters by hand, which is a considerable time saver.

— chris morris, Fortune, "Video Games Can Now Have Hyper Realistic Characters Thanks to New Graphics Tech," 22 Mar. 2018
Craft instruction began to animate classrooms and summer camps alike.

— sarah archer, The Atlantic, "The Forgotten Everyday Origins of ‘Craft’," 25 Feb. 2018
Nonetheless, the fear of being charged with a crime if one knowingly lies is often more likely to animate truthful responses than are other potential repercussions.

— michael mccann, SI.com, "Misconduct Reports at New Mexico Put Bob Davie in Bad Light," 9 Feb. 2018

Origin and Etymology of animate

see ¹animate

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

animate Synonyms

Synonyms

amp (up), brace, energize, enliven, fire, ginger (up), invigorate, jazz (up), juice up, jump-start, liven (up), pep (up), quicken, spike, stimulate, vitalize, vivify, zip (up);

Antonyms

damp, dampen, deaden, dull, kill;

Near Antonyms

burn out, debilitate, do in, drain, enervate, enfeeble, exhaust, fatigue, harass, kayo, knock out, sap, tucker (out), undermine, wash out, weaken, wear, wear out, weary;

check, curb, inhibit, jade, quell, quench, repress, restrain, slow, still, stunt, suppress;

daunt, demoralize, discourage, dishearten, dispirit;

activate, actuate, drive, impel, motivate, motive, move, propel;

charge, electrify, galvanize;

enkindle, excite, ferment, foment, incite, inflame (also enflame), instigate, kindle, provoke, set off, spark, trigger, turn on, whip (up);

abet, boost, buoy, cheer, embolden, fortify, hearten, infuse, inspire, lift, rally, steel, strengthen;

reactivate, reanimate, reawake, reawaken, recharge, recreate, reenergize, refresh, refreshen, regenerate, reinvigorate, rejuvenate, rekindle, renew, restimulate, resurrect, resuscitate, revitalize, revive;

Synonym Discussion of animate

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

ANIMATE Defined for English Language Learners

animate

adjective

Definition of animate for English Language Learners

: having life : alive or living

animate

verb

Definition of animate for English Language Learners

: 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

ANIMATE Defined for Kids

animate

adjective an·i·mate \ ˈa-nə-mət \

Definition of animate for Students

: having life

animate

verb an·i·mate \ ˈa-nə-ˌmāt \

Definition of animate for Students

animated; animating

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

Word Root of animate

The Latin word anima, meaning “breath” or “spirit,” gives us the root anim. Words from the Latin anima have something to do with having breath or spirit. An animal is a living creature that breathes and can move around on its own. To animate something is to give it breath or life. Someone magnanimous has a courageous spirit.