look-alike
Americannoun
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a person or thing that looks like or closely resembles another; double.
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a compatible.
The leading brand of computer was expensive so they bought cheap look-alikes.
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a pill or capsule that contains nonprescription stimulants, as caffeine and ephedrine, but is made to appear like one containing illegal or prescription stimulants, as amphetamine or biphetamine.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of look-alike
First recorded in 1945–50; noun use of verb phrase look alike
Explanation
A look-alike is someone who looks almost exactly like another person. Running into your look-alike in a big city would be quite shocking. Some look-alikes are related, like identical twins or cousins who resemble each other to an uncanny degree. Other look-alikes are so similar to celebrities that they can make a living impersonating them. If you are a Michael Jackson look-alike, you could dress like the singer and perform at a talent show, lip syncing his song "Billie Jean" and attempting the moonwalk. Look-alike is an American word, coined around 1937.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Daily Star gives readers a laugh with a "photo exclusive" of a Lionel Messi look-alike, with the impersonator saying he "backs England" in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
In 2023, the Village People’s manager reportedly sent the campaign a cease-and-desist letter after a look-alike group was hired to perform the song “Macho Man” at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
In the dream, Gutiérrez went on Craigslist to hire a look-alike in order to balance his personal and professional commitments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2025
That Norwegian, a 25-year-old Viking look-alike named Erling Haaland, is currently on a historic tear through English soccer—even by his own machinelike standards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
“How are you doing with that exam?” the Mrs. Franklin look-alike was asking.
From "Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story" by Nora Raleigh Baskin
The AI can help find look-alikes or secondhand vendors that might still have it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
Using a combination of artificial intelligence modeling, genetic screening, and laboratory testing, Duarte and his team confirmed that the M5 motif distinguishes true PET-degrading enzymes from inactive look-alikes.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 4, 2025
So having a competition solely dedicated to him, in which thousands of ogling fans and hopeful look-alikes traveled both near and far to attend, is incredibly Gen-Z coded.
From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2024
The Oscar-nominated “Call Me by Your Name” and “Dune” star made a surprise appearance Sunday at Washington Square Park, where hundreds of fans and look-alikes gathered to crown the one, the only “best Tim.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2024
But all I could see was the wrong'way-round Z and a line of boys, all Salim look-alikes, smiling and waving and saying goodbye and walking to the edge of a precipice.
From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
