animate Hear it!

animate definition

ani·mate (an′i māt′; for adj., -mit)

transitive verb animated -·mat′ed, animating -·mat′·ing

  1. to give life to; bring to life
  2. to make energetic or spirited
  3. to stimulate to action or creative effort; inspire
  4. to give motion to; put into action the breeze animated the leaves
  5. to make move so as to seem lifelike to animate puppets
  6. to produce as an animated cartoon to animate a fairy tale

Etymology: < L animatus, pp. of animare, to make alive, fill with breath < anima: see animal

adjective

  1. living; having life, esp. animal life
  2. lively; vigorous; spirited

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

animate Synonyms

animate

modif.

alive, breathing, moving, animated; see alive 1. See syn. study atalive.


animate

v.

  1. To give life or spirit to

    activate, enliven, vitalize, vivify, stimulate, quicken, energize, invigorate, arouse, exhilarate, liven up, charge, charge up, inspirit, encourage, spark, galvanize, stir, inform, put life into, breathe new life into, bring to life, revive, revitalize, revivify, endow with life, imbue with life, furnish with vital principle, perk up.

  2. To incite

    inspire, arouse, excite, motivate; see encourage 2, incite.

animate implies making alive or lively an animated conversation or the imparting of motion or activity an animated doll; to quicken is to rouse to action that which is lifeless or inert the rebuff quickened my resolution; exhilarate implies an enlivening or elevation of the spirits; stimulate implies a rousing from inertia, inactivity, or lethargy, as if by goading; invigorate means to fill with vigor or energy in a physical sense an invigorating walk; vitalize implies the imparting of vigor or animation in a nonphysical sense to vitalize a dull story


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

animate Usage Examples

Object

  • graphics: The power of the micro to animate graphics depends on two main factors.

Modifies a noun

  • being: Atoms and qualities combine to form inanimate bodies, as well as compound animate beings.

Used with adjective complement

  • become: Man, therefore, became animate at the same time that he received his soul.

Used with why or when

  • when: June 20 th: A very quiet and sunny day became quiet animated when a possible Bee-eater was reported flying past the Observatory.

Preposition: by

  • spirit: The Church animated by the Spirit is like wind slipping through the fingers of its enemies.
animate usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

animate quotes

Let onion atoms lurk within the bowl, And, half-suspected, animate the whole.

-Smith, Rev Sydney

animate quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Link to this page:

Cite this page:

MLA Style

"animate." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/animate>

APA Style

animate. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/animate

Comments:

Please or Register to post a comment