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
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
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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List 11
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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.
As James Baldwin once said, “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”
From Slate • Apr. 27, 2026
However, “beyond that there are vague fears that the AI providers would either be directly competitive or be mated with other solutions to imitate Palantir.”
From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026
“The new CEO should lean in to his own strengths and not try to imitate either of his predecessors.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
They also try to imitate Bigfoot "calls" as there is the belief Bigfoot can communicate through howl-like sounds or by knocking on trees.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
I used to imitate my brother by swinging high and doing backflips off that play set, soaring through the air.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
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.
