imitate
Americanverb (used with object)
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imitates,
present (3rd person singular)
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imitated,
past participle, past
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imitating
present participle
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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
Synonym Usage
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
Derived Forms
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imitabilitynoun
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imitatornoun
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overimitateverb (used with object)
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preimitateverb (used with object)
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imitableadjective
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nonimitatingadjective
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unimitatedadjective
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unimitatingadjective
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well-imitatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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imitatesimple
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imitatessimple
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have imitatedperfect
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has imitatedperfect
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am imitatingprogressive
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are imitatingprogressive
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is imitatingprogressive
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have been imitatingperfect progressive
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has been imitatingperfect progressive
Past
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imitatedsimple
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had imitatedperfect
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was imitatingprogressive
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were imitatingprogressive
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had been imitatingperfect progressive
Future
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
Explanation
When you imitate someone, you copy them. Youth marketers capitalize on kids' desire to imitate––tweens imitate teens, teens imitate young adults, and marketers supply the product lines to make it easy. Humans learn by imitating others. Babies carefully watch their caregivers' lips, learning to imitate the movements they make to create language sounds. Writers often begin their careers imitating the style of older writers they admire.
Vocabulary lists containing imitate
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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:
If you’re a certain age — say, the generation most excited by the prospect of a “Rocky” origin story — you probably have spent a good few decades watching people imitate Sylvester Stallone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
AI models can adopt unique personalities, hold memories of past conversations and imitate language accurately enough to pass for a human.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2026
"I don't want to imitate him but I try to resemble him," she said of her uncle.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
“The goal shouldn’t be to simply imitate traditional film or television,” said von Schwarz.
From Slate ● Sep. 26, 2026
They got dogs on the street that have heard the sirens so many times they can imitate them perfectly.
From "145th Street: Short Stories" by Walter Dean Myers
China's new rules cover apps that have been specifically designed as AI friends, boyfriends or girlfriends but they also apply to any large language model that imitates the way a human interacts.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
The lawsuit says the song imitates “Isbell’s characteristic clear male vocals and country twang.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
We’ll all find out together if, with the original stock market superstition, life actually imitates art.
From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026
Instead of copying part of a virus or bacterium, this new vaccine imitates the communication signals immune cells exchange during infection.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 23, 2026
She gets up and imitates the host and makes a joke in Urdu.
From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan
This time Mr. Brydon is the one being imitated, and the interaction is appropriately disturbing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
While these calls typically appear to be from a UK mobile number, Fell said these numbers will be imitated, or spoofed, by the criminals behind the scam.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
The fakes imitated brands like Bvlgari, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, and Tiffany & Co, and generated an estimated $1.14m in illicit profits for the counterfeit syndicate.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
That strategy was imitated across industries, making complex goods affordable and helping establish the modern middle class.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
We watched them, imitated them, puzzled over their actions, and talked about them all the time.
From "Tasting the Sky" by Ibtisam Barakat
He told NPR he discovered his talent for doing different voices while working on a farm as a child and imitating animals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
Most of the porcelain was made for the European market, underscoring a subtext of cross-fertilization, already stated by Islamic ceramics imitating Chinese blue and white.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Barnett, 41, returned to Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday morning, explaining she had been absent in recent weeks because she was in hospital "in a case of life imitating work".
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
"Triple threat. Go big or go home. Life imitating art."
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
“Yes, quite right,” May said, imitating the prince.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
