animate

modif.

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