cinematic

American  

[sin-uh-mat-ik] / ˌsɪn əˈmæt ɪk /

adjective

1. having to do with movies, as either an industry or an art form.

   The book explores Andy Warhol's cinematic work, focusing on ten films in detail.

2. (of a movie) showing a high level of artistry; grand and visually impressive.

   This film is filled with sweeping, cinematic shots of the surrounding countryside, to the point where the setting almost becomes a third character.

3. having qualities or using techniques associated with good movies, such as drama, emotional intensity, visual or sonic artistry, epic narrative, etc..

   Poetic and strikingly cinematic, her exquisitely written novel illuminates the strange tightrope we are all walking in the radically altered landscape post-9/11.

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noun

1. (in a video game) a short video or scripted event scene between stages of interactive play, often to introduce a new level, develop a character, or advance the plot.

   This year's NHL game has a lot of the same animations, cinematics between faceoffs, commentary tracks, and graphics.

Other Word Forms

• uncinematic
  adjective
• cinematically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of cinematic

cinemat(ograph) ( def. ) + -ic

Explanation

Use the adjective cinematic to describe things that relate to — or resemble — a movie. You might, for example, read a cinematic scene in a novel that's written in a vivid, memorable way. You might say your favorite cinematic moment ever is the opening scene in The Sound of Music, or lament that your favorite director's cinematic output has been low recently. You're talking about movies here; cinematic comes from cinema. This word is also frequently used for things that just seem like you're watching them on a big screen: "When we came over that hill at sunrise and finally saw the Atlantic Ocean, it was so cinematic!"

Example Sentences

The company threw a lavish caviar party at Cannes and in May hosted panels promoting its cinematic tool at Amazon’s AI on the Lot event in Culver City.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2026

But then, Glover defied that genre’s labels by treating each episode as its own cinematic experience.

From Salon • Jul. 1, 2026

Memorable cinematic roles have included a corrupt police officer in the Harrison Ford thriller "Witness" and a comedy turn in Wes Anderson's eccentric "The Royal Tenenbaums," opposite Gene Hackman.

From Barron's • Jul. 1, 2026

To her, the movie has achieved something far more valuable than a deep cinematic thesis.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 28, 2026

“Did you notice anything unusual, Mr. Crosby? I thought that with your cinematic eye, you may have noticed something that no one else would have seen.”

From "Confessions of a Murder Suspect" by James Patterson

Related Words

• pictorial
• visual
• vivid