The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Animate \An"i*mate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Animated; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Animating.] [L. animatus, p. p. of animare, fr.
   anima breath, soul; akin to animus soul, mind, Gr. ? wind,
   Skr. an to breathe, live, Goth. us-anan to expire (us- out),
   Icel. ["o]nd breath, anda to breathe, OHG. ando anger. Cf.
   Animal.]
   1. To give natural life to; to make alive; to quicken; as,
      the soul animates the body.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To give powers to, or to heighten the powers or effect of;
      as, to animate a lyre. --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To give spirit or vigor to; to stimulate or incite; to
      inspirit; to rouse; to enliven.
      [1913 Webster]

            The more to animate the people, he stood on high . .
            . and cried unto them with a loud voice. --Knolles.
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   Syn: To enliven; inspirit; stimulate; exhilarate; inspire;
        instigate; rouse; urge; cheer; prompt; incite; quicken;
        gladden.
        [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Animated \An"i*ma`ted\, a.
   Endowed with life; full of life or spirit; indicating
   animation; lively; vigorous. "Animated sounds." --Pope.
   "Animated bust." --Gray. "Animated descriptions." --Lewis.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

animated
    adj 1: having life or vigor or spirit; "an animated and
           expressive face"; "animated conversation"; "became very
           animated when he heard the good news" [syn: animated,
           alive] [ant: unanimated]
    2: made to appear to move as living creatures do; "an animated
       cartoon"; "animated puppets"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

143 Moby Thesaurus words for "animated":
   aboveground, activated, active, activist, activistic, actuated,
   acute, aggressive, alert, alive, alive and kicking, all agog,
   among the living, animate, antic, anxious, ardent, automated, avid,
   bouncing, bouncy, breathing, breathless, breezy, brisk, bubbly,
   bursting to, cant, capable of life, capersome, chipper, coltish,
   conscious, desirous, dynamic, eager, ebullient, effervescent,
   endowed with life, energetic, energized, enlivened, enterprising,
   enthusiastic, excited, exhilarated, existent, exuberant, fervent,
   forceful, forcible, forward, frisky, frolicsome, full of beans,
   full of go, full of life, full of pep, gamesome, gay, go-go,
   hearty, high-spirited, impassioned, impatient, impelled, impetuous,
   in the flesh, incisive, inclined, inner-directed, inspirited,
   instinct with life, intense, invigorated, keen, kinetic, lifelike,
   live, lively, living, long-lived, lusty, mechanical, mercurial,
   mettlesome, militant, minded, motivated, moved, moving,
   other-directed, panting, passionate, peppy, perky, pert, playful,
   prompt, prompted, quick, quicksilver, raring to, ready,
   ready and willing, reanimated, recharged, recreated, refreshed,
   renewed, revived, robust, rollicking, rollicksome, rompish,
   skittish, smacking, snappy, spanking, spirited, sportive,
   sprightly, spry, stimulated, strenuous, strong, take-charge,
   take-over, tenacious of life, trenchant, very much alive, viable,
   vibrant, vigorous, vital, vivacious, vivid, vivified, zestful,
   zesty, zingy, zippy, zoetic