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
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.
It is in the running for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, against films such as Disney's Zootopia 2 and Elio.
From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026
Motion picture – Animated “Arco” “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” “Elio” “KPop Demon Hunters” “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain” “Zootopia 2”
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 8, 2025
Animated sequels have become a critical business for Disney, which had hits last year in both “Moana 2” and “Inside Out 2.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025
This is the highest-charting soundtrack from an animated film since the OST from another Sony Animated film, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” ranked No. 7 on the Billboard 200 in July 2023.
From Salon • Jul. 2, 2025
Animated frescoes arrange and rearrange into different celestial scenes: the gods and goddesses, an everlasting rose, the kings and queens of old, the islands of Orléans, the heavens.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
