imitate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to follow or endeavor to follow as a model or example.
to imitate an author's style; to imitate an older brother.
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to mimic; impersonate.
The students imitated the teacher behind her back.
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to make a copy of; reproduce closely.
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to have or assume the appearance of; simulate; resemble.
verb
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to try to follow the manner, style, character, etc, of or take as a model
many writers imitated the language of Shakespeare
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to pretend to be or to impersonate, esp for humour; mimic
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to make a copy or reproduction of; duplicate; counterfeit
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to make or be like; resemble or simulate
her achievements in politics imitated her earlier successes in business
Related Words
Imitate, copy, duplicate, reproduce all mean to follow or try to follow an example or pattern. Imitate is the general word for the idea: to imitate someone's handwriting, behavior. To copy is to make a fairly exact imitation of an original creation: to copy a sentence, a dress, a picture. To duplicate is to produce something that exactly resembles or corresponds to something else; both may be originals: to duplicate the terms of two contracts. To reproduce is to make a likeness or reconstruction of an original: to reproduce a 16th-century theater.
Other Word Forms
- imitability noun
- imitable adjective
- imitator noun
- nonimitating adjective
- overimitate verb (used with object)
- preimitate verb (used with object)
- unimitated adjective
- unimitating adjective
- well-imitated adjective
Etymology
Origin of imitate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin imitātus, past participle of imitārī “to copy,” presumably a frequentative akin to the base of imāgō image
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.
Such has been Pollock's impact that already children at rugby clubs across England have been spotted running around with black head tape on, scoring tries and imitating his pulse-checking celebration.
From BBC
In Chipotle’s case, Ells freely admits his muse was taquerías in San Francisco’s Mission District that prepped burritos in the assembly line manner and size his company would soon imitate.
From Los Angeles Times
Life imitated art for Cyrus, who became a global pop star off the back of the show's success.
From BBC
Among the elite, Martin learned to imitate and to observe.
In a case of life imitating art, Hardenberg now wants Greenland to immediately start negotiations with Copenhagen as a first step toward possible independence.
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.
