animation

American  

[an-uh-mey-shuhn] / ˌæn əˈmeɪ ʃən /

noun

animations plural

1. animated quality; liveliness; vivacity; spirit.

   to talk with animation.

   Synonyms:

   sprightliness, exhilaration, ardor, enthusiasm, energy, vigor

   Antonyms:

   sluggishness

2. an act or instance of animating or enlivening.

3. the state or condition of being animated.

4. Graphic Arts

   1. a dynamic visual medium produced from static drawings, models, or objects posed in a series of incremental movements that are then rapidly sequenced to give the illusion of lifelike motion.

   2. the process of preparing such animation, as for films, cartoons, video games, etc.

   3. a product of such animation, as a film or cartoon.

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animation British  

/ ˌænɪˈmeɪʃən /

noun

1. liveliness; vivacity

2. the condition of being alive

3. 1. the techniques used in the production of animated cartoons

   2. a variant of animated cartoon

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interanimation
  noun
• nonanimation
  noun
• overanimation
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• animations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of animation

1590–1600; 1910–15 animation for def. 4; (< Middle French ) < Latin animātiōn- (stem of animātiō a bestowing of life). See animate, -ion

Explanation

Animation is the state of being full of life and energy, like a room full of excited kids at a birthday party. You're sure to get more people excited about your idea if you speak with animation, or liveliness, in your voice. If your face has animation, the expression in your eyes and the shape of your mouth accent what you say. As it applies to film making, animation refers to bringing something flat and unmoving, like a drawing, to life.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

animation animations

After a stint at his own animation studio, Ub returned to Disney as a special effects engineer, pioneering techniques like the 360-degree motion-picture camera.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

He said Johnson's performance was "on autopilot, like a piece of software" and criticised the use of CGI, which he said was "so deeply embedded" it feels like "another animation".

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

By the late 1990s, the once-untouchable Disney was forced to confront true animation rivals in the form of Pixar and DreamWorks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

The latest chapter in the lowbrow but lucrative "Minions" franchise debuted atop the North American box office this weekend, edging out another popular animation series in "Toy Story," industry estimates showed Sunday.

From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026

This VPN allows us to share the feed from the microphone, images from the session, the real-time script, and all the animation designs amongst all the locations with a simple log-in.

From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman

As this technology developed, the photographs became more detailed and the animations swifter and smoother.

From Slate ● May 25, 2026

National regulations require microdrama makers to register to obtain a licence -- a step made mandatory for AI-generated animations from this month.

From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026

Wood's hotel room looked out at the Sphere, which has an even bigger exterior screen that displays animations and various other content, including, at times, an eye.

From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026

“Down here at Kong, we are creating something that … only really existed in Jamie’s drawings and animations and in the minds of the fans of Gorillaz,” says Stephen Gallagher of Block9.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026

You can view here animations of longitudinal and transverse waves, single particles being disturbed by a transverse wave or by a longitudinal wave, and particles being disturbed by transverse and longitudinal waves.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones