animated
Americanadjective
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full of life, action, or spirit; lively; vigorous.
an animated debate on the death penalty.
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made or equipped to move or give the appearance of moving in an animallike fashion.
animated puppets.
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containing representations of animals or mechanical objects that appear to move as real ones do.
an animated window display.
adjective
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full of vivacity and spirit; lively
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characterized by movement and activity
an animated scene met her eye
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possessing life; animate
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moving or appearing to move as if alive
an animated display
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pertaining to cinematographic animation
Other Word Forms
- animatedly adverb
- nonanimated adjective
- overanimated adjective
- overanimatedly adverb
- semianimated adjective
- unanimated adjective
- unanimatedly adverb
Etymology
Origin of animated
Explanation
Something that seems full of life and movement is said to be animated. Animated films for television and movies include cartoons, Claymation, puppets, and computer-generated images, which are all simulations of living things. The Latin animāre "give breath to" is the basis for the word animated. The business of animated films has grown with the advent of computers, but the idea of animating something began long before cartoons and CGI. In Mary Shelley's classic 19th-century novel "Frankenstein," the monster, built of dead parts, is animated by electrical impulses, an idea that "sparked" a fascination with regeneration that survives to this very day.
Vocabulary lists containing animated
Speak Your Mind: Anim
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Esperanza Rising
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Vocabulary from "Community is the 'killer app' missing from virtual reality" by Dmitri Williams
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Cartoons as long as 10 hours each feature illustrated dogs playing around in an animated New York City, or dogs watching duck ponds.
From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026
Other top releases this year include Amazon’s child-friendly, science-fiction adaptation “Project Hail Mary,” Disney’s animated “Hoppers,” and Sony Pictures’s animated “GOAT.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026
"But would you rather have clean air and lower electricity bills or Cocomelon for adults?" she joked, referring to the animated children's channel that is among YouTube's most subscribed.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
By then, Cudi, born Scott Mescudi, had already logged 20 years of a successful emo rap career, launched a clothing line, forged an acting career and created an animated film.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026
It was an animated fairy tale and I didn’t like it much, either.
From "The Fourteenth Goldfish" by Jennifer L. Holm
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
