Synonyms of animate

animate 1 of 2

verb

ˈa-nə-ˌmāt 

as in to stimulate

to give life, vigor, or spirit to

Mr. Clark animates history for his sixth graders by frequently showing up for class dressed like some famous historical figure

Synonyms & Similar Words

• stimulate
• arouse
• enliven
• stir
• vivify
• activate
• energize
• electrify
• provoke
• vitalize
• invigorate
• awaken
• inspire
• quicken
• excite
• recreate
• revive
• jazz (up)
• motivate
• trigger
• drive
• cheer
• lift
• propel
• spike
• fire
• zip (up)
• brace
• motive
• rouse
• amp (up)
• spark
• strengthen
• raise
• awake
• liven (up)
• jump-start
• move
• pep (up)
• rally
• charge
• juice up
• actuate
• boost
• fillip
• resurrect
• ginger (up)
• refresh
• impel
• renew
• wake (up)
• galvanize
• set off
• reanimate
• infuse
• incite
• regenerate
• buoy
• ferment
• foment
• instigate
• inflame
• whip (up)
• steel
• fortify
• turn on
• kindle
• embolden
• hearten
• reactivate
• enkindle
• revitalize
• resuscitate
• abet
• reinvigorate
• reawaken
• enflame
• rekindle
• rejuvenate
• recharge
• restimulate
• reenergize
• refreshen
• reawake

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• kill
• dull
• dampen
• undermine
• deaden
• damp
• wear
• harass
• weaken
• drain
• wear out
• burn out
• restrain
• wash out
• weary
• exhaust
• check
• knock out
• debilitate
• suppress
• slow
• inhibit
• enfeeble
• sap
• repress
• curb
• fatigue
• do in
• enervate
• quench
• quell
• stunt
• still
• discourage
• tucker (out)
• fag
• demoralize
• dishearten
• daunt
• jade
• kayo
• dispirit

animate

2 of 2

adjective

ˈa-nə-mət 

1

as in animated

having much high-spirited energy and movement

an animate dance routine that will really get the blood pumping

Synonyms & Similar Words

• animated
• lively
• energetic
• active
• brisk
• bouncing
• awake
• kinetic
• cheerful
• gay
• enthusiastic
• playful
• spirited
• vital
• sprightly
• perky
• jaunty
• springy
• racy
• mettlesome
• spanking
• jazzy
• peppy
• pert
• frisky
• vivacious
• on the go
• sparky
• zippy
• up
• airy
• eager
• snappy
• agile
• bright
• pizazzy
• pizzazzy
• dashing
• dapper
• spiffy
• alert
• buoyant
• nimble
• spry
• effervescent
• wide-awake
• sparkly
• nervous
• keen
• chipper
• agog
• upbeat
• bubbly
• chirpy
• impish
• exuberant
• open-eyed
• frolicsome
• ebullient
• boisterous
• pixieish
• chirrupy
• skittish
• high-spirited
• high-strung

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• inanimate
• dead
• lifeless
• inactive
• limp
• languid
• listless
• leaden
• lazy
• inert
• indolent
• weary
• tired
• sluggish
• vapid
• sleepy
• spiritless
• languishing
• languorous
• lethargic
• lackadaisical
• impassive
• apathetic
• stolid
• tedious
• boring
• dull
• torpid
• unambitious
• irksome
• phlegmatic

2

as in breathing

having or showing life

had a dream about a sandwich that becomes animate

Synonyms & Similar Words

• breathing
• alive
• live
• animated
• living
• active
• dynamic
• quick
• lively
• existing
• vibrant
• surviving
• current
• existent
• thriving
• extant
• vigorous
• going
• vital
• prevailing
• vivacious
• resurrected

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• inanimate
• deceased
• dead
• cold
• lifeless
• departed
• expired
• dying
• nonliving
• breathless
• defunct
• moribund
• asleep
• fading
• resting
• stillborn
• ghostly
• absent
• gone
• ghostlike
• terminated
• extinct
• vanished
• finished
• wiped out
• nonexistent
• lost
• fallen
• barren
• lapsed
• reposing
• desert
• zombielike
• ghosty
• perished

Synonym Chooser

How is the word animate distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of animate are enliven, quicken, and vivify. While all these words mean "to make alive or lively," animate emphasizes the imparting of motion or vitality to what is or might be mechanical or artificial.

happiness animated his conversation

When would enliven be a good substitute for animate?

Although the words enliven and animate have much in common, enliven suggests a stimulus that arouses from dullness or torpidity.

enlivened her lectures with humorous anecdotes

In what contexts can quicken take the place of animate?

The words quicken and animate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, quicken stresses a sudden renewal of life or activity especially in something inert.

the arrival of spring quickens the earth

When is vivify a more appropriate choice than animate?

While the synonyms vivify and animate are close in meaning, vivify implies a freshening or energizing through renewal of vitality.

new blood needed to vivify the dying club

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of animate

Verb

On Sunday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: The issue of transgender college athletes continues to animate Republicans as the Trump administration doubles down on their attacks on trans rights. —Taylor Wilson, USA Today, 29 July 2025

The clip takes a bunch of old still photos of the King and uses AI to animate them. —Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 29 July 2025

Adjective

The objects appear startlingly animate, as if bodies and ethnographic specimens are hanging on display. —Jane Levere, Forbes.com, 11 June 2025

Throughout the book, land and water are animate, so rivers speak and murmur and remember and address the reader. —The New Yorker, New Yorker, 14 May 2025