First recorded in 1985–90; from Japanese, borrowing of English animation ( def. )
How does anime compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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A high-profile Japanese anime voice actor has taken TikTok to court over videos he says feature an artificial intelligence clone of his "lustrous" baritone, with a verdict due on Wednesday.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
I take a lot of inspiration from film and anime.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
He is particularly popular among young people who follow anime culture, video games and online communities.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026
He added that Sony is looking for ways to integrate gaming and anime, genres he said have a natural affinity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Autumn yells as she twirls her sword and stabs the blade into the troll’s knee with perfect anime form.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
He has also noticed his son picking up on the English subtitles on animé TV shows.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
From Meredith Blake’s 2018 coverage: “Little Women” has been adapted numerous times — into films, TV shows, an opera, a musical and even two animé series.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2022
When you first encounter Pepper, it’s hard not to be struck by the quirky novelty of the situation: You’re being chatted up by something that looks part animé cartoon, part “Star Wars” stormtrooper.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 18, 2017
Skyles is from Portland; she loves animé and Tim Burton, especially “Ed Wood,” in which Johnny Depp plays the cross-dressing B-movie director.
From New York Times ● May 23, 2013
It resembles the animé of Madagascar rather than the copal of India, which flows from an entirely different tree.
From The Andes and the Amazon Across the Continent of South America by James Orton
That talented team previously worked on Asobi Asobase and Kino’s Journey: The Beautiful World, though Lerche is probably best known for the Assassination Classroom and Danganronpa animes.
From The Verge ● Oct. 1, 2018
Like many Japanese animes and Korean dramas, the state-produced original series gained a broader viewership thanks to the labor of fans, who provided translations for those outside Norway.
From Slate ● May 22, 2018
Paramount’s campaign even found a useful ally in Mamoru Oshii, the brilliant Japanese director of the 1995 and 2004 “Ghost in the Shell” animes, who defended Johansson’s casting on grounds of artistic freedom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2017
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.
