movie
Americannoun
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a sequence of consecutive still images recorded in a series to be viewed on a screen in such rapid succession as to give the illusion of natural movement; motion picture.
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a story, event, or the like, presented in this form.
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movies,
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Usually the movies the movie industry.
The movies use MPA ratings to inform patrons about content that may not be suitable for certain audiences.
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all movies as a group, or a specific category of movies, considered as a genre.
gangster movies.
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the exhibition of movies.
an evening at the movies.
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Often the movies a movie theater.
Is there anything good playing at the movies on Main Street?
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noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of movie
First recorded in 1905–10; mov(ing picture) + -ie
Explanation
A movie is a film that you watch at a theater or at home on your TV, laptop, or tablet. Movie is short for "moving picture," which was pretty exciting in the late 1800s. You can rave about your favorite movie — whether it's "Citizen Kane" or "The Lion King" — and you can also talk about "the movies," or films in general and the industry that makes them. You might dream of working in the movies, for example. Before about 1912, movies were called "motion pictures." Movie is a shortened form of the phrase, which some people abbreviate into the more old-fashioned sounding "pictures."
Vocabulary lists containing movie
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.
See Examples For:
For years, movie ticket sales have been declining, because of this shift from seeing the consumer not as a customer to please, but a mark to suck dry.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
His first movie for Universal, 2023’s “Oppenheimer,” became available to watch at home 120 days after it came out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
It is measured in T-shirts and ticket sales, tourists and movie promotions, bobblehead dolls and international corporate sponsorships.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
The point is to remind us that there is no filmmaker working today other than Christopher Nolan who can make a movie of this size.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
We were on the couch, watching a movie.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Of course, we also go for stories that are larger than life, that traverse beyond this realm into a place that only movies can go.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
Plan your weekend viewing: Heading to the movies and wondering what to see?
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
For a documentarian who specializes in personal movies, “Remake” feels especially revealing — both in terms of the glimpses we get of this father-son relationship and of unsolved mysteries that linger just outside the frame.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
Between 1929 and 1932, Chase made an easy transition to short sound films and worked as part of a duo with the delicious Thelma Todd in about a dozen of those pre-code movies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
“That’s only in the movies, I think,” Coal said.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
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.
