movement

American  

[moov-muhnt] / ˈmuv mənt /

noun

1. the act, process, or result of moving.

   Antonyms:

   stasis, inertia

2. a particular manner or style of moving.

3. Usually movements. actions or activities, as of a person or a body of persons.

4. Military, Naval. a change of position or location of troops or ships.

5. abundance of events or incidents.

   Synonyms:

   eventfulness

6. rapid progress of events.

7. the progress of events, as in a narrative or drama.

8. Fine Arts. the suggestion of motion in a work of art, either by represented gesture in figurative painting or sculpture or by the relationship of structural elements in a design or composition.

9. a progressive development of ideas toward a particular conclusion.

   the movement of his thought.

10. a series of actions or activities intended or tending toward a particular end.

    the movement toward universal suffrage.

11. the course, tendency, or trend of affairs in a particular field.

12. a diffusely organized or heterogeneous group of people or organizations tending toward or favoring a generalized common goal.

    the antislavery movement; the realistic movement in art.

13. the price change in the market of some commodity or security.

    an upward movement in the price of butter.

14. bowel movement.

15. the working parts or a distinct portion of the working parts of a mechanism, as of a watch.

16. Music.

    1. a principal division or section of a sonata, symphony, or the like.

    2. motion; rhythm; time; tempo.

17. Prosody. rhythmical structure or character.

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movement British  

/ ˈmuːvmənt /

noun

1. 1. the act, process, or result of moving

   2. an instance of moving

2. the manner of moving

3. 1. a group of people with a common ideology, esp a political or religious one

   2. the organized action of such a group

4. a trend or tendency in a particular sphere

5. the driving and regulating mechanism of a watch or clock

6. (often plural) a person's location and activities during a specific time

7. 1. the evacuation of the bowels

   2. the matter evacuated

8. music a principal self-contained section of a symphony, sonata, etc, usually having its own structure

9. tempo or pace, as in music or literature

10. fine arts the appearance of motion in painting, sculpture, etc

11. prosody the rhythmic structure of verse

12. a positional change by one or a number of military units

13. a change in the market price of a security or commodity

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movement Cultural  

1. In music, a self-contained division of a long work; each movement usually has its own tempo. A long, undivided composition is said to be in one movement.

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Synonym Usage

See motion.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• countermovement
  noun

Etymology

Origin of movement

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French; see move, -ment

Explanation

The noun movement means a change of position or location. If you're watching a play, you might notice that an actor's repeated movement from one side of the stage to the other shows her character's nervousness. A campaign to create some change or achieve a goal is another kind of movement, like the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. A major section of a musical piece is also called a movement. Each movement of a symphony can have a different tempo and feel, working to build the piece toward a dramatic finish. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony has four movements.

Example Sentences

At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 she penned an open letter titled "An inconvenient truth" to then-Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden reflecting on her experiences fighting systemic racism.

From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026

“We’re starting to see early signs of movement, but it’s too soon to call it a meaningful shift away from job hugging,” said Ger Doyle, ManpowerGroup’s regional president for North America.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 5, 2026

Then you've got to factor in the seam movement and the slope, batting becomes impossible.

From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026

There is a phenomenon known as Spiralism, an informal movement that emerged after OpenAI released the sycophantic GPT-4o version.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026

Around them, Boaz saw the dead shift with the movement of the light, lurching toward it.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

Related Words

• change
• crusade
• demonstration
• evolution
• faction
• flow
• group
• organization
• party
• shift
• tendency
• transfer
• trend
• unrest