animated

1. 1
   adjective

   Made of drawings or inanimate objects given the illusion of motion through computer graphics or stop-action filming.

   The studio's latest animated feature took four years to finish.

   The documentary opens with a short animated sequence showing how the virus spreads.

2. 2
   adjective

   Full of life and spirit; lively and vigorous in manner.

   The proposal sparked an animated debate among the board members.

   Her face became animated the moment the conversation turned to music.

   Similarlively, spirited, heated, vivacious, energetic

   Oppositelifeless, listless, dull

3. 3
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of animate.

   The film's puppets were animated one frame at a time over two years.

   A sudden sense of purpose animated the tired volunteers.

   Note

   Both past forms are regular and identical: she animated every frame herself; the puppets were animated by hand. After be, the same spelling can also be an adjective. A by-phrase marks the verb (the volunteers were animated by a sense of purpose); very or more marks the lively adjective, which compares as more animated, most animated. In the film was animated, only context separates the verb from the animation meaning.

4. 4
   adjective

   Endowed with life; living rather than lifeless.

   The naturalist spent his life cataloging the wonders of animated nature.

   Early thinkers asked what separates animated bodies from the lifeless clay they are made of.

   Similarliving, live

   Oppositelifeless, inanimate, dead

   Note

   Here the contrast is with lifeless matter, not with dullness: an animated body is simply alive, however still it lies. Coleridge writes of animated Nature in Aids to Reflection (1825), meaning the living world as a whole, each species with its own organs and faculties. Keep it apart from the lively meaning: an animated face is expressive, while animated nature is merely alive.

Showing meanings only. Show all 4