plural cartoons
1
: a preparatory design, drawing, or painting (as for a fresco)
2
a
: a drawing intended as satire, caricature, or humor
a political cartoon
a cartoon drawing
b
: a group of drawings in narrative sequence : comic strip
3
: a video (such as a television show or movie) that is made from a series of drawings, computer graphics, or photographs of inanimate objects (such as puppets) and that simulates movement by slight progressive changes in each frame : animated cartoon
4
: a ludicrously simplistic, unrealistic, or one-dimensional portrayal or version
The film's villain is an entertaining cartoon.
cartoon
verb
cartoonishly
adverb
Examples of cartoon in a Sentence
She enjoys reading the cartoons in the Sunday paper.
The kids are watching cartoons.
Recent Examples on the Web
His father, Harvey Eisenberg, was an animator and comic book artist who worked on Tom & Jerry, Foxy Fagan and Yogi Bear cartoons alongside William Hanna and Joseph Barbera at MGM and later at their own company.
—
Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Feb. 2025
Maybe instead of rats the cartoon should show sitting ducks.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 13 Feb. 2025
Elsewhere in the interview, Carl Jones detailed why the beloved cartoon disappeared seemingly when Black America needed it most in June 2014.
—Marc Griffin, VIBE.com, 13 Feb. 2025
Continue reading … Click here for more cartoons… MEDIA
'THEY'RE NOT COMING' – James Carville laments 'the cavalry is not coming' to stop the Trump administration's agenda.
—Fox News, 12 Feb. 2025
See all Example Sentences for cartoon 
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Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Feb. 2025
Maybe instead of rats the cartoon should show sitting ducks.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 13 Feb. 2025
Elsewhere in the interview, Carl Jones detailed why the beloved cartoon disappeared seemingly when Black America needed it most in June 2014.
—Marc Griffin, VIBE.com, 13 Feb. 2025
Continue reading … Click here for more cartoons… MEDIA
'THEY'RE NOT COMING' – James Carville laments 'the cavalry is not coming' to stop the Trump administration's agenda.
—Fox News, 12 Feb. 2025
See all Example Sentences for cartoon
Dictionary Entries Near cartoon
Cite this Entry
“Cartoon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cartoon. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
cartoon
noun
car·toon
kär-ˈtün 
1
: a design, drawing, or painting made as a model for the finished work
2
a
: a drawing intended as a humorous comment on public affairs
b
3
Etymology
from Italian cartone "pasteboard, a sketch of a planned drawing or painting done on heavy paper," from carta "sheet of paper," from Latin charta "piece of papyrus" — related to card entry 3, carton
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