movie

noun

mov·​ie ˈmü-vē 

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

Synonyms

• film
• documentary

Examples of movie in a Sentence

He wants to work in the movies.

a career in the movies

Recent Examples on the Web

Here, Lee gets at the crux of his self-satire, as well as the grousing anti-capitalism of Kurosawa’s original movie, in which the protagonist has also let business cloud his moral judgment. —David Sims, The Atlantic, 19 Aug. 2025

Basso successfully transitioned from child actor to adult thespian, first appearing in coming-of-age movies such as Super 8 and The Kings of Summer before going on to portray J.D. Vance in Ron Howard’s Hillbilly Elegy and one of the villains in horror movie The Strangers. —Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 19 Aug. 2025

The comedy reunites Epps with Barris after the comedian appeared in Barris’ 2023 Netflix movie You People. —Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 19 Aug. 2025

In a March interview with the Standard, the actress urged the writing of more movies about real-life women spies in place of a female 007. —Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 19 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

moving picture

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing movie

• B movie
• home movie
• movie house

Rhymes for movie

• groovy

Kids Definition

movie

noun

mov·​ie ˈmü-vē 

1

: motion picture sense 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