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

As seemingly scattershot as the box-office yields for these films can be, don’t expect live-action remakes of classic animation to turn into a pumpkin anytime soon. — Chris Lee, Vulture, 14 July 2026

That eventually led me to apply to CalArts, where I got accepted into the animation program. — Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 14 July 2026

Buchwald is based in Los Angeles and New York, representing talent with departments across film, television, theater, literary, content creators, animation, voiceover, sports, podcasting, publishing, commercial, broadcast and branding and digital. — Tanya Fedak, Variety, 13 July 2026

After a stint at his own animation studio, Ub returned to Disney as a special effects engineer, pioneering techniques like the 360-degree motion-picture camera. — Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, 12 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