look-alike
Americannoun
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look-alikes
plural
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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:
She once quietly entered a Dolly Parton drag queen look-alike contest -- and lost.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
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
I imagine tiny look-alike toddlers in baggy pants—Little Chuck 1 and Little Chuck 2.
From "The Thing About Jellyfish" by Ali Benjamin
WSJLI: Did you connect with these people whose AI look-alikes are in your campaign?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
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
Sprinkled through the crowd like “Where’s Waldo” are the Chalamet look-alikes, reporters clambering to grab interviews and eventgoers enraptured with the allure of the Timmy variants.
From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2024
For comedian Heidi Gardner, a recent “SNL” sketch that focused on two “Beavis and Butt-Head” look-alikes was “really special” — cracks and all.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2024
They planned events featuring Henrietta Lacks look-alikes —a few Turner Station women who’d style their hair like Henrietta’s and wear suits identical to the one she wore in her iconic photo.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
