animate

UK: verb: /ˈænɪmeɪt/, adjective: /ˈænɪmət/

US: /v. ˈænəˌmeɪt; adj. -mɪt/

US: (v. an′ə māt′; adj. an′ə mit)

Inflections of 'animate' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

animates

v 3rd person singular

animating

v pres p

animated

v past

animated

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

an•i•mate /v. ˈænəˌmeɪt; adj. -mɪt/   v., -mat•ed, -mat•ing, adj. 
v. [~ + object]

1. to give life to;
   make alive:
   Her presence animated the party.
2. to move or stir to action;
   motivate;
   inspire;
   encourage:
   The move to a new office animated the staff.
3. to give motion to:
   We saw leaves animated by the breeze.
4. Show Business to produce in the form of an animated cartoon.

adj. 

5. alive;
   possessing life:
   animate beings.
6. Linguistics (of a noun) having, or seeming to have, the ability to move, think, and act under one's own power(opposed to inanimate ):
   In the sentence "John blew the candle out'', John is an animate noun.

an•i•ma•tor, n. [countable] See -anima-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

an•i•mate  (v. an′ə māt′;adj. an′ə mit), v., -mat•ed, -mat•ing, adj. 
v.t. 

1. to give life to;
   make alive:
   God animated the dust.
2. to make lively, vivacious, or vigorous;
   give zest or spirit to:
   Her presence animated the party.
3. to fill with courage or boldness;
   encourage:
   to animate weary troops.
4. to move or stir to action;
   motivate:
   He was animated by religious zeal.
5. to give motion to:
   leaves animated by a breeze.
6. Show Business to prepare or produce as an animated cartoon:
   to animate a children's story.

adj. 

7. alive;
   possessing life:
   animate creatures.
8. lively:
   an animate expression of joy.
9. of or relating to animal life.
10. able to move voluntarily.
11. Linguistics belonging to a syntactic category or having a semantic feature that is characteristic of words denoting beings regarded as having perception and volition (opposed to inanimate).

• Latin animātus filled with breath or air, quickened, animated (past participle of animāre). See anima, -ate¹
• late Middle English animat 1375–1425

an′i•mate•ly, adv. 
an′i•mate•ness, n. 
an′i•mat′ing•ly, adv. 
Synonyms

• 1. vivify, quicken, vitalize.
• 2. energize, fortify.
  Animate, invigorate, stimulate mean to enliven. To animate is to create a liveliness:
  Health and energy animated his movements.
  To invigorate means to give physical vigor, to refresh, to exhilarate:
  Mountain air invigorates.
  To stimulate is to arouse a latent liveliness on a particular occasion:
  Alcohol stimulates.
• 3. inspire, inspirit, hearten, arouse, exhilarate.
• 4. excite, incite, fire, urge, kindle, prompt.

Antonyms

• 1. kill.
• 7. dead.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

animate verb / ˈænɪˌmeɪt/(transitive)

1. to give life to or cause to come alive
2. to make lively; enliven
3. to encourage or inspire
4. to impart motion to; move to action or work
5. to record on film or video tape so as to give movement to

adjective / ˈænɪmɪt/

1. being alive or having life
2. gay, spirited, or lively

Etymology: 16th Century: from Latin animāre to fill with breath, make alive, from anima breath, spirit