live-action
Americanadjective
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of or relating to movies, videos, and the like, that feature real performers, as distinguished from animation.
A new live-action version of the classic animated film will be released later this year.
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Informal. live.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of live-action
First recorded in 1955–60
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’s possible that the public will become accustomed to AI slop as entertainment content, or that AI video quality will become essentially indistinguishable from filmed live action.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026
Earlier this week, fans got a glimpse of him swinging a club when he played in the TGL, the upstart league that combines simulator play with live action golf.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
"We are seeing a galaxy transforming in live action," said Himansh Rathore, a graduate student at Steward Observatory and the lead author of the paper.
From Science Daily • Mar. 20, 2026
A Labubu movie that will combine live action and computer-generated animation is in "early development", the two companies said in a statement.
From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026
All the male characters, cartoon or live action, sounded like the same two people—José Miguel Agrelot or Jacobo Morales, two of my favorite radio voices.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
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.
