animation

noun

an·​i·​ma·​tion ˌa-nə-ˈmā-shən 

plural animations

1

: the act of animating : the state of being animate or animated

2

: a movie, scene, or sequence that simulates movement from a series of still frames (such as drawings, computer graphics, or photographs of inanimate objects moved incrementally)

His work often condenses stories of intricate subjects into brief looping animations.

—Paul Tough

The work, titled Bigger Christmas Trees, was created on an iPad and features ten minutes of animation.

—Julia Binswanger

And as the animation above shows, this tilt causes the Moon's shadow to miss the Earth.

—Tom Yulsman

3

: the preparation of animation (as for animated cartoons, video games, commercials, etc.)

Synonyms of animation

• brightness
• liveliness
• vigorousness
• exuberance
• cheerfulness
• vibrancy
• briskness
• vitality
• sprightliness
• vibrance
• robustness
• enthusiasm
• spirit
• jazziness

Examples of animation in a Sentence

The animation for the film took over two years to complete.

The studio used computer animation for some of the special effects.

The website has hundreds of animations you can download.

Recent Examples on the Web

Alongside artist and archival producer Hudson Campbell, who created oil portraits of the four central figures, the team leaned on AI to add animation, movement, expression, and immediacy to people whose likenesses were absent from history. — Doug Melville, Forbes.com, 27 June 2026

No one has a higher success rate in that regard than Pixar, and luckily for me, my kid is a fiend for any movie made by the Disney animation studio. — Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 27 June 2026

The most prominent animation festival in the world, Annecy, has named Colombia as its Country of Honor next year, a significant nod to the South American nation’s burgeoning animation industry. — Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 27 June 2026

In the festival’s second Contrechamp competition, aimed at works pushing the boundaries of traditional animation, Dimitri Planchon and Jean-Paul Guigue’s Blaise won the Contrechamp Grand Prize. — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 27 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing animation

• suspended animation
• with animation

Rhymes for animation

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation

Kids Definition

animation

noun

an·​i·​ma·​tion ˌan-ə-ˈmā-shən 

1

: the state of being animate or animated

2

a

: a film made by photographing a series of positions of objects (as puppets)

b

: animated cartoon

3

: the making of animations

Medical Definition

animation

noun

an·​i·​ma·​tion ˌan-ə-ˈmā-shən 

: the state of being animate or animated see suspended animation