cartoon
noun
car·toon kär-ˈtün 
often attributive
1
: a preparatory design, drawing, or painting (as for a fresco)
2
a
: a drawing intended as satire, caricature, or humor
a political cartoon
b
: comic strip
3
: animated cartoon
4
: a ludicrously simplistic, unrealistic, or one-dimensional portrayal or version
the film's villain is an entertaining cartoon
cartoon verb
cartooning
kär-ˈtü-niŋ
noun cartoonish
kär-ˈtü-nish
adjective cartoonishly adverb
cartoonist
kär-ˈtü-nist
noun cartoonlike
kär-ˈtün-ˌlīk
adjective cartoony
kär-ˈtü-nē
adjective 
Synonyms
- delineation
- drawing
- sketch
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
She enjoys reading the cartoons in the Sunday paper. The kids are watching cartoons.
Recent Examples on the Web Robert Galbraith, the sixth installment of her Cormoran Strike series follows Edie Ledwell, a co-creator of a popular cartoon called The Ink Black Heart. 
Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Aug. 2022 Funny Pages is not a cartoon, but its young hero, Roger, nevertheless comes off like a coyote on the run from the anvils threatening to fall on his head. K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 30 Aug. 2022 In 2010, a new cartoon premiered with these bold lines. Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, 24 Aug. 2022 The laws that say so have been put forward by a cohort of nonprofessionals who generate their own confident representations of the body and its limits, unburdened by clinical nuance, as simple as a cartoon. Wired, 11 Aug. 2022 It’s one thing to pitch a cartoon and show drawings. Mike Sacks, The New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2022 This may sound like nitpicking for a cartoon that’s intended to be frivolous and fun, except that luck isn’t one of those phenomena that people around the globe can agree on. Peter Debruge, Variety, 3 Aug. 2022 Conversely, Shoshanna was a cartoon for most of the show's run, but her occasional frustration was palpable. Darren Franich, EW.com, 15 Apr. 2022 Which is to say, that game — and others like it — was a cartoon. Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 13 Mar. 2022 See More
Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Aug. 2022 Funny Pages is not a cartoon, but its young hero, Roger, nevertheless comes off like a coyote on the run from the anvils threatening to fall on his head. K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 30 Aug. 2022 In 2010, a new cartoon premiered with these bold lines. Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, 24 Aug. 2022 The laws that say so have been put forward by a cohort of nonprofessionals who generate their own confident representations of the body and its limits, unburdened by clinical nuance, as simple as a cartoon. Wired, 11 Aug. 2022 It’s one thing to pitch a cartoon and show drawings. Mike Sacks, The New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2022 This may sound like nitpicking for a cartoon that’s intended to be frivolous and fun, except that luck isn’t one of those phenomena that people around the globe can agree on. Peter Debruge, Variety, 3 Aug. 2022 Conversely, Shoshanna was a cartoon for most of the show's run, but her occasional frustration was palpable. Darren Franich, EW.com, 15 Apr. 2022 Which is to say, that game — and others like it — was a cartoon. Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 13 Mar. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Italian cartone pasteboard, cartoon, augmentative of carta leaf of paper — more at card entry 1
First Known Use
1671, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing cartoon
Kids Definition
cartoon
noun
car·toon kär-ˈtün
1
: a movie or television program made by photographing a series of drawings
2
: a drawing (as in a newspaper) making people or objects look funny or foolish
3
: comic strip
cartoons 1 of 2
noun
1
as in drawings
a picture using lines to represent the chief features of an object or scene a political cartoon mocking the state legislature Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- drawings
- sketches
- portraits
- depictions
- illustrations
- figures
- representations
- images
- caricatures
- silhouettes
- watercolors
- engravings
- doodles
- outlines
- contours
- etchings
- delineations
- pastels
- blueprints
- likenesses
- line drawings
- aquatints
- charcoals
- etches
2
as in comics
a series of drawings that tell a story or part of a story reading the cartoons in the Sunday newspaper Synonyms & Similar Words
- comics
- funnies
- strips
- animations
- comic strips
- caricatures
- animated cartoons
- comic books
- graphic novels
- funny papers
3
as in parodies
a poor, insincere, or insulting imitation of something in this biopic the life of a complex man is reduced to a cartoon Synonyms & Similar Words
- parodies
- caricatures
- jokes
- comedies
- shams
- farces
- simulations
- travesties
- burlesques
- hoaxes
- mockeries
- lampoons
- forgeries
- pretenses
- takeoffs
- knockoffs
- counterfeits
- phonies
- phoneys
- fakes
- pretences
- humbug
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- tributes
- homages
cartoons
2 of 2verb
as in caricatures
Synonyms & Similar Words
- caricatures
- pictures
- pencils
- crayons
- sketches
- inks
- profiles
- outlines
- draws
- scribbles
- scrawls