cartoon

noun

car·​toon kär-ˈtün How to pronounce cartoon (audio)
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
3
4
: a ludicrously simplistic, unrealistic, or one-dimensional portrayal or version
the film's villain is an entertaining cartoon
cartoon verb
cartooning noun
cartoonish adjective
cartoonishly adverb
cartoonist noun
cartoonlike adjective
cartoony adjective

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

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cartoon.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of cartoon was in 1671

Dictionary Entries Near cartoon

Cite this Entry

“Cartoon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cartoon. Accessed 30 Nov. 2023.

Kids Definition

cartoon

noun
car·​toon kär-ˈtün How to pronounce cartoon (audio)
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
3
cartoonist 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

More from Merriam-Webster on cartoon

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