Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

animated

[an-uh-mey-tid]
See more synonyms for animated on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. full of life, action, or spirit; lively; vigorous: an animated debate on the death penalty.
  2. made or equipped to move or give the appearance of moving in an animallike fashion: animated puppets.
  3. containing representations of animals or mechanical objects that appear to move as real ones do: an animated window display.
Show More

Origin of animated

First recorded in 1525–35; animate + -ed2
Related formsan·i·mat·ed·ly, adverbnon·an·i·mat·ed, adjectiveo·ver·an·i·mat·ed, adjectiveo·ver·an·i·mat·ed·ly, adverbsem·i·an·i·mat·ed, adjectiveun·an·i·mat·ed, adjectiveun·an·i·mat·ed·ly, adverb

animate

[verb an-uh-meyt; adjective an-uh-mit]
verb (used with object), an·i·mat·ed, an·i·mat·ing.
  1. to give life to; make alive: God animated the dust.
  2. to make lively, vivacious, or vigorous; give zest or spirit to: Her presence animated the party.
  3. to fill with courage or boldness; encourage: to animate weary troops.
  4. to move or stir to action; motivate: He was animated by religious zeal.
  5. to give motion to: leaves animated by a breeze.
  6. to render or produce (a story, character, movie, etc.) by using animation: to animate a children's story;to animate the characters in a video game;an animated film.
Show More
adjective
  1. alive; possessing life: animate creatures.
  2. lively: an animate expression of joy.
  3. of or relating to animal life.
  4. able to move voluntarily.
  5. Linguistics. belonging to a syntactic category or having a semantic feature that is characteristic of words denoting beings regarded as having perception and volition (opposed to inanimate).
Show More

Origin of animate

1375–1425; late Middle English animat < Latin animātus filled with breath or air, quickened, animated (past participle of animāre). See anima, -ate1
Related formsan·i·mate·ly, adverban·i·mate·ness, nounan·i·mat·ing·ly, adverbin·ter·an·i·mate, verb (used with object), in·ter·an·i·mat·ed, in·ter·an·i·mat·ing.non·an·i·mate, adjectivenon·an·i·mat·ing, adjectivenon·an·i·mat·ing·ly, adverbsem·i·an·i·mate, adjectiveun·an·i·mat·ing, adjectiveun·an·i·mat·ing·ly, adverb

Synonyms

See more synonyms for animate on Thesaurus.com
1. vivify, quicken, vitalize. 2. energize, fortify. 3. inspire, inspirit, hearten, arouse, exhilarate. 4. excite, incite, fire, urge, kindle, prompt.

Synonym study

2. Animate, invigorate, stimulate mean to enliven. To animate is to create a liveliness: Health and energy animated his movements. To invigorate means to give physical vigor, to refresh, to exhilarate: Mountain air invigorates. To stimulate is to arouse a latent liveliness on a particular occasion: Caffeine will stimulate you and keep you alert.

Antonyms

1. kill. 7. dead.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for animated

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The Redistribution Bill was carried, January, 1885, after animated debate.

    The Grand Old Man

    Richard B. Cook

  • But Camilla's letter had, as we have seen, raised his courage and animated his heart.

    Night and Morning, Complete

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton

  • The proceedings began with some animated discussion, all tending one way.

    Tiverton Tales

    Alice Brown

  • What is the mean temperature, Mr. Clawbonny, of animated beings?

    The Field of Ice

    Jules Verne

  • For a time our coffee made us chatty, and our conversation was animated.

British Dictionary definitions for animated

animated

adjective
  1. full of vivacity and spirit; lively
  2. characterized by movement and activityan animated scene met her eye
  3. possessing life; animate
  4. moving or appearing to move as if alivean animated display
  5. pertaining to cinematographic animation
Show More
Derived Formsanimatedly, adverb

animate

verb (ˈænɪˌmeɪt) (tr)
  1. to give life to or cause to come alive
  2. to make lively; enliven
  3. to encourage or inspire
  4. to impart motion to; move to action or work
  5. to record on film or video tape so as to give movement toan animated cartoon
Show More
adjective (ˈænɪmɪt)
  1. being alive or having life
  2. gay, spirited, or lively
Show More

Word Origin

C16: from Latin animāre to fill with breath, make alive, from anima breath, spirit
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for animated

adj.

1530s, "alive," past participle adjective from animate (v.). Meaning "mentally excited" is from 1530s; "full of activity" from 1580s. The "moving pictures" sense is attested from 1895; of cartoons from 1897. Related: Animatedly.

Show More

animate

v.

1530s, "to fill with boldness or courage," from Latin animatus past participle of animare "give breath to," also "to endow with a particular spirit, to give courage to," from anima "life, breath" (see animus). Sense of "give life to" in English attested from 1742. Related: Animated; animating.

Show More

animate

adj.

"alive," late 14c., from Latin animatus (see animate (v.)).

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper