as in stimulates
to give life, vigor, or spirit to
Mr. Clark animates history for his sixth graders by frequently showing up for class dressed like some famous historical figure
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Recent Examples of animates
Perhaps the thought of former pros populating college sports and taking spots away animates Congress to act, but the track record isn’t promising.
—
Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 10 Feb. 2026
The ensuing density of pattern pressing against pattern animates a play of geometries and rhythms that links Keïta’s visual schemas to those of European abstraction.
—Zoë Hopkins, New Yorker, 7 Feb. 2026
At Faena New York, that spirit animates the property, with installations, performances, and events that turn its New York building into a living gallery.
—Jessica Chapel, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Jan. 2026
That belief now animates the entire industry.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 28 Jan. 2026
The underlying notion that you can easily get lost in the shuffle if your devotees aren’t consistently seeing and hearing from you animates a modern pop landscape that’s overflowing with appeals for sustained attention.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 23 Jan. 2026
That question is a primordial, primitive question that animates many of us our whole lives without realizing it.
—Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 16 Jan. 2026
Today, similar prudence animates concerns about NATO and broader trans-Atlantic ties in an era when Europe has undergone profound transformations through mass migration, supranational governance, demographic decline, and shifting cultural priorities.
—Daniel Ross Goodman, The Washington Examiner, 9 Jan. 2026
Users upload an image along with a script or voice sample, and generative AI animates the face into a conversational digital persona capable of real-time dialogue.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 8 Jan. 2026
Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 10 Feb. 2026
The ensuing density of pattern pressing against pattern animates a play of geometries and rhythms that links Keïta’s visual schemas to those of European abstraction.
—Zoë Hopkins, New Yorker, 7 Feb. 2026
At Faena New York, that spirit animates the property, with installations, performances, and events that turn its New York building into a living gallery.
—Jessica Chapel, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Jan. 2026
That belief now animates the entire industry.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 28 Jan. 2026
The underlying notion that you can easily get lost in the shuffle if your devotees aren’t consistently seeing and hearing from you animates a modern pop landscape that’s overflowing with appeals for sustained attention.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 23 Jan. 2026
That question is a primordial, primitive question that animates many of us our whole lives without realizing it.
—Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 16 Jan. 2026
Today, similar prudence animates concerns about NATO and broader trans-Atlantic ties in an era when Europe has undergone profound transformations through mass migration, supranational governance, demographic decline, and shifting cultural priorities.
—Daniel Ross Goodman, The Washington Examiner, 9 Jan. 2026
Users upload an image along with a script or voice sample, and generative AI animates the face into a conversational digital persona capable of real-time dialogue.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 8 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for animates
Verb
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The viral beauty gadget stimulates collagen, boosts circulation, and leaves you with plump, youthful results.—
Kyra Surgent,
InStyle,
6 Feb. 2026
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Then, they are manually placed on Multi Electrode Arrays (MEAs), a grid of tiny electrodes on a biocompatible substrate chip that records and stimulates neurons using 32 electrodes grouped into four sets of eight.—
Matthew S Williams,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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More than three devices is considered a cluster that arouses interest.—
Carolyn Forché,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
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That intense scarcity arouses a FOMO among very wealthy car lovers that allows Ferrari to charge prices like $250,000 for one of its entry-level cars, and $3 million for a hypercar like its F80.—
Phil Wahba,
Fortune,
27 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Animates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/animates. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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