stop-motion

noun

stop-mo·​tion ˈstäp-ˈmō-shən 

often attributive

: a filming technique in which successive positions of objects (such as clay models) are photographed to produce the appearance of movement

Examples of stop-motion in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

During del Toro’s decade-plus development process for his stop-motion masterpiece Pinocchio — which was released by Netflix in 2022 and went on to win an Oscar for Best Animated Feature — the filmmaker helped guide Roy and Arturo Ambriz to the release of their 2016 stop-motion short. —Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026

House experiments with tons of surreal techniques that make the film feel like a bizarre dream — there are wacky transitions, stylized backdrops, bursts of stop-motion and hand-drawn animation, wild color filters, jarring soundtrack choices, and dizzying camera movements. —Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 5 June 2026

Animators Ri Crawford and David Lauer needed to be super precise about facial structures and mouth movements, especially, so that the stop-motion felt distinct but not too disconnected from the live-action work. —Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 28 May 2026

Advertisement What excited you about playing Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln in the Bardo, the upcoming part-live-action, part-stop-motion film based on the George Saunders novel? —Katie Sanders, Time, 22 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1912, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for stop-motion

• commotion
• demotion
• devotion
• emotion
• laotian
• promotion
• locomotion
• lotion
• notion
• ocean
• potion