animality

noun

an·​i·​mal·​i·​ty ˌa-nə-ˈma-lə-tē How to pronounce animality (audio)
1
: a quality or nature associated with animals:
a
b
: a natural unrestrained unreasoned response to physical drives or stimuli
2
: the animal nature of human beings

Examples of animality in a Sentence

in his portrayal the actor emphasizes the working-class hunk's fundamental animality
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
The other characters are getting animalities, as well: Peacemaker gets the eagle, Omni-Man the Hail Mary kaiju from Invincible, and Johnny Cage becomes a shark. Nick Romano, EW.com, 23 Sep. 2024 Meg combined elements of Christie Monteiro, with Bryans Snakeskin Pants (both from Tekken), while dancing in a DDR setting similarly to Ulala from Space Channel 5, fatalities and animalities from MK, with nods to old school games from the Sega Genesis era. Solcyré Burga, TIME, 10 May 2024 Kafka’s fiction is full of animals who resemble people and people who lapse into animality. Becca Rothfeld, The New Yorker, 9 Jan. 2023 The study ventures into the intricacies of scientific and quasi-scientific debates in the 19th century, and treats 19th century science as embedded in a myth featuring divinity, humanity and animality as principal characters. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 31 July 2012 Haushofer’s inhabiting of animality is remarkably tender and selfless. James Wood, The New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2022 In the short pas de deux of the savages, which came as the finale of the Revue Nègre, there was a wild splendor and magnificent animality. Lauren Michele Jackson, The New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2022 It’s the thought of not being able to keep alive her two pets, whose fragile animality animates the stakes from the outset. Naveen Kumar, Variety, 11 Oct. 2021 Linking women with animality and monstrosity is common in pop culture, and there are a number of female werewolf precedents. BostonGlobe.com, 16 July 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1615, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of animality was in 1615

Dictionary Entries Near animality

Cite this Entry

“Animality.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/animality. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!