movie

noun

mov·​ie ˈmü-vē 

1

: a recording of moving images that tells a story and that people watch on a screen or television : motion picture

watched a movie after dinner

a movie about the Civil War

an action movie

2

movies plural : a showing of a motion picture especially in a theater

went to the movies last Friday

also : a theater that shows movies

What's playing at the movies?

3

movies plural : the business of making movies : the motion-picture medium or industry

Synonyms

• film
• flick
• flicker
• motion picture
• moving picture
• picture

Examples of movie in a Sentence

He wants to work in the movies.

a career in the movies

Recent Examples on the Web

The actress, who had shaved her head in 2024 for a movie role, managed to keep her lack of hair hidden until the awards show. —Brittany Talarico, People.com, 21 Apr. 2025

What might work in a fantasy show, or a campy horror movie, comes off as weirdly goofy here. —Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 21 Apr. 2025

His family retained their love for Italian culture, and Bergoglio grew up listening to opera and watching every Italian movie that came to town. —Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 21 Apr. 2025

Talkies—movies with synchronized sound, introduced in the late nineteen-twenties—were a setback. —David Owen, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

moving picture

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing movie

• B movie
• home movie
• movie house

Rhymes for movie

• groovy

Kids Definition

movie

noun

mov·​ie ˈmü-vē 

1

: motion picture sense 1

2

a

: a story represented in motion pictures

b

pl : a showing of a movie

went to the movies yesterday

3

plural : the business of making movies : the motion-picture industry