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Meaning & use

moved

adjective, verb·Everyday

Last updated

UK/muːvd/
US/muːvd/

Meanings

  1. adjectivecomparable

    Feeling strong emotion, such as sadness, gratitude or tenderness, because of something you have seen or heard.

    Grammar: Often follows be or feel, plus by: feel moved by her words.

    Patterns

    • be moved by something
    • be moved to tears

    The audience was deeply moved by her speech.

    He felt moved when the children sang for him.

    I was moved to tears by the final scene.

  2. verbtransitive or intransitive

    Past form of move: changed position, or changed where you live or work.

    Grammar: Past tense and past participle: she moved the chair, they moved last year.

    Patterns

    • moved to somewhere
    • moved something to somewhere

    We moved to Chicago last spring.

    He moved the lamp closer to the desk.

    The meeting was moved to Thursday.

  3. verbtransitive

    Persuaded or influenced someone to act, or affected their feelings.

    Grammar: Often moved someone to do something.

    Patterns

    • moved someone to do something

    His story moved her to donate.

    The photo moved the crowd to action.

    Nothing she said moved him to change his mind.

Common combinations

deeply moved
She was deeply moved by the gift.
moved to tears
Many viewers were moved to tears.
moved by kindness
He was moved by the stranger's kindness.
visibly moved
The speaker was visibly moved.
moved house
They moved house in June.

Synonyms and how they differ

touched
Touched suggests a gentler, warmer feeling, often of gratitude, than moved.
affected
Affected is more neutral and can include any emotional effect, not only positive ones.
stirred
Stirred is more literary and suggests feelings being awakened.
emotional
Emotional describes a general state and does not point to a cause the way moved does.

Opposites

unmovedindifferent

Word family

move verb
to change place or position
moving adjective
causing strong feeling
movingly adverb
in an emotionally affecting way
unmoved adjective
not affected emotionally
movement noun
an act of moving

Commonly confused: moved or moving?

moved vs moving

Moving describes what causes the emotion, while moved describes the person who feels it: a moving film, a moved audience.

Practice

The whole audience was ______ by the violinist's performance.

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