Synonym Chooser

How is the word vivify distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of vivify are animate, enliven, and quicken. While all these words mean "to make alive or lively," vivify implies a freshening or energizing through renewal of vitality.

new blood needed to vivify the dying club

When can animate be used instead of vivify?

While the synonyms animate and vivify are close in meaning, animate emphasizes the imparting of motion or vitality to what is or might be mechanical or artificial.

happiness animated his conversation

In what contexts can enliven take the place of vivify?

The synonyms enliven and vivify are sometimes interchangeable, but enliven suggests a stimulus that arouses from dullness or torpidity.

enlivened her lectures with humorous anecdotes

When would quicken be a good substitute for vivify?

Although the words quicken and vivify have much in common, quicken stresses a sudden renewal of life or activity especially in something inert.

the arrival of spring quickens the earth

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of vivify But the book also vivifies the fact that most (if not all) art and journalism has a predatory element. Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 20 Feb. 2023 All of which speaks to a level of seriousness in the notables featured in Young Bloomsbury that the book perhaps did not vivify. John Tamny, Forbes, 28 Dec. 2022 Each of these observers was given a tic, motif, or symbolic compulsion to distinguish and vivify his or her narration. Mark Greif, The Atlantic, 15 Mar. 2022 Their bodies are emphatically their own, no rightful concern of his, and their joy is vivifying. New York Times, 16 Feb. 2020 This novel is a beautiful unfolding of characters and relationships that vivify nontraditional family, friendship, love, identity, boundaries, distance, responsibility and forgiveness. Beth Py-Lieberman, Smithsonian, 28 Nov. 2019 Every year around this time, a delectable wave of Brazilian music sweeps across the Bay Area, bringing a lush, vivifying surge of beauty to the fading days of summer. Andrew Gilbert, The Mercury News, 27 Aug. 2019 To the first point, the Sanders-Red Hen situation has unearthed (or perhaps vivified) a growing sentiment in our society. Aaron Blake, Washington Post, 25 June 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vivify
Verb
  • At the same time, playful responsiveness stimulates the vagus nerve, a key part of the parasympathetic nervous system linked to relaxation and safety.
    Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
  • Salmon Salmon is rich in omega-3 and vitamin D, and helps to stimulate collagen production within the skin.
    Alessandra Signorelli, Vogue, 12 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The scientist experiments with animating parts of a corpse and succeeds in creating a sentient man.
    Thomas Page McBee, Travel + Leisure, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Those gardens, intended to be untamed, animating, and informal, are the work of Piet Oudolf, the creator of the High Line plantings, in New York.
    Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Vivify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vivify. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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