cartoon

noun

car·​toon kär-ˈtün 

often attributive

1

: a preparatory design, drawing, or painting (as for a fresco)

2

a

: a drawing intended as satire, caricature, or humor

a political cartoon

b

: comic strip

3

: animated cartoon

4

: a ludicrously simplistic, unrealistic, or one-dimensional portrayal or version

the film's villain is an entertaining cartoon

cartoon verb

cartooning

kär-ˈtü-niŋ 

noun

cartoonish

kär-ˈtü-nish 

adjective

cartoonishly adverb

cartoonist

kär-ˈtü-nist 

noun

cartoonlike

kär-ˈtün-ˌlīk 

adjective

cartoony

kär-ˈtü-nē 

adjective

Synonyms

• delineation
• drawing
• sketch

Examples of cartoon in a Sentence

She enjoys reading the cartoons in the Sunday paper.

The kids are watching cartoons.

Recent Examples on the Web

The cartoon shows a protest in which demonstrators are holding aloft signs justifying torture and rape. —Joseph Goldstein, New York Times, 24 Nov. 2023

Today Pope is busy designing a rollerblading cartoon character whose clumsiness is designed to tug at your heartstrings. —IEEE Spectrum, 21 Nov. 2023

Choose from colorful numbers, letters, and seemingly endless patches of cartoon characters, sports teams, and shapes. —Katherine Alex Beaven, Travel + Leisure, 17 Nov. 2023

In addition, these original cartoons can easily be translated into hundreds of languages at a very low cost. —Donie O'Sullivan, CNN, 13 Nov. 2023

There have been articles, memes, and even a New Yorker cartoon dedicated to his character's appeal. —Nigel Smith, Peoplemag, 9 Nov. 2023

In the cartoon, the Hamas official has a woman and children bound to his body by rope, with a baby tied to his head. —Alexandra Bruell, WSJ, 9 Nov. 2023

This is a handy cartoon to show you your storage dimensions. —Steven Ewing, Ars Technica, 6 Nov. 2023

The fluid virtual bodies we were promised turned out to be boxy cartoon avatars. —WIRED, 13 Nov. 2023

See More

Word History

Etymology

Italian cartone pasteboard, cartoon, augmentative of carta leaf of paper — more at card entry 1

First Known Use

1671, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing cartoon

• animated cartoon
• strip cartoon

• animated cartoon
• strip cartoon

Kids Definition

cartoon

noun

car·​toon kär-ˈtün 

1

: a design, drawing, or painting made as a model for the finished work

2

a

: a drawing intended as a humorous comment on public affairs

b

: comic strip

3

: animated cartoon

cartoonist

-ˈtü-nəst 

noun

Etymology

from Italian cartone "pasteboard, a sketch of a planned drawing or painting done on heavy paper," from carta "sheet of paper," from Latin charta "piece of papyrus" — related to card entry 3, carton