1
a
: motion picture
—usually used attributively
b
: a motion-picture theater
2
a
: movies
especially
: the film industry
b
: the art or technique of making motion pictures
Synonyms
Examples of cinema in a Sentence
a student of French cinema
We drove by the cinema to see what was playing.
Recent Examples on the Web
Like many theater operators, Alamo Drafthouse struggled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered cinemas for months.
—
Christi Carras, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2024
Even the shallowest discourse on filmmakers and fashion reveals a world that still profoundly cares about cinema as an art form.
—Joshua Hunt, New York Times, 12 June 2024
There's a long history of beautiful saloon girls in American cinema, and Tanya fits right in with her hair piled high and her zealous use of rouge.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 12 June 2024
The film is not so much an adaptation of Caste but an attempt to translate it into the vernacular of narrative cinema.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for cinema 
Christi Carras, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2024
Even the shallowest discourse on filmmakers and fashion reveals a world that still profoundly cares about cinema as an art form.
—Joshua Hunt, New York Times, 12 June 2024
There's a long history of beautiful saloon girls in American cinema, and Tanya fits right in with her hair piled high and her zealous use of rouge.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 12 June 2024
The film is not so much an adaptation of Caste but an attempt to translate it into the vernacular of narrative cinema.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for cinema
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cinema.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near cinema
Cite this Entry
“Cinema.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cinema. Accessed 16 Jun. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
cinema
noun
cin·e·ma
ˈsin-ə-mə 
1
a
: movie sense 2a
a cinema director
b
: a theater for showing movies
went to the cinema
2
a
: the business of making movies
worked in cinema
b
: the art or technique of making movies
a student of French cinema
cinematic
adjective
ˌsin-ə-ˈmat-ik
cinematically
adverb
-i-k(ə-)lē
Etymology
derived from French cinématographe "motion picture," from Greek kinēma "movement" and graphe "picture," from kinein "to move" — related to kinetic
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