movie

noun

mov·​ie ˈmü-vē How to pronounce movie (audio)
1
: a recording of moving images that tells a story and that people watch on a screen or television : motion picture
watched a movie after dinner
a movie about the Civil War
an action movie
2
movies plural : a showing of a motion picture especially in a theater
went to the movies last Friday
also : a theater that shows movies
What's playing at the movies?
3
movies plural : the business of making movies : the motion-picture medium or industry

Examples of movie in a Sentence

He wants to work in the movies. a career in the movies
Recent Examples on the Web The groups could be things like horror movie franchises, a type of verb or rappers. Kris Holt, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023 The Israel-Hamas war that has caused cancellations of several movie celebrations across the Arab world has not prevented the event from forging ahead undeterred with its third edition running Nov. 30-Dec. 9 in Jeddah, on the Red Sea’s eastern shore. Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 30 Nov. 2023 Beyoncé is bringing the Renaissance World Tour to movie theaters around the world starting Nov. 30 — a shining new addition to the larger B universe. Rachel Lerman, Washington Post, 30 Nov. 2023 There’s a lot of set-up and atonality in Candy Cane Lane, which feels like three different movies before its primary narrative gets going. Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Nov. 2023 Fiction is the premise of all fictions, and that simple truth, along with the (perhaps declining) companion truth that, for the most part, movie stars are made in America, is enough to explain the phenomenon. Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 30 Nov. 2023 Platforms used to offer recommendations based on clear user inputs (consider that Netflix used to ask you to rate a movie out of five stars); now things have gotten murkier as our behavior is tracked and collated in complex, opaque ways. Nancy Walecki, The Atlantic, 30 Nov. 2023 But here, as in his other movies, Wiseman mostly keeps the camera at a respectful, unobtrusive distance, especially in the dining room. Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 29 Nov. 2023 The only major competition this weekend will come from the monster movie Godzilla Minus One. Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 29 Nov. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'movie.' 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

moving picture

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of movie was in 1909

Dictionary Entries Near movie

Cite this Entry

“Movie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/movie. Accessed 10 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

movie

noun
mov·​ie ˈmü-vē How to pronounce movie (audio)
1
2
a
: a story represented in motion pictures
b
pl : a showing of a movie
went to the movies yesterday
3
plural : the business of making movies : the motion-picture industry

More from Merriam-Webster on movie

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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