imitate

[ im-i-teyt ]

See synonyms for: imitate imitated imitates imitating on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),im·i·tat·ed, im·i·tat·ing.

to follow or endeavor to follow as a model or example: to imitate an author's style; to imitate an older brother.
to mimic; impersonate: The students imitated the teacher behind her back.

to make a copy of; reproduce closely.
to have or assume the appearance of; simulate; resemble.

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

synonym study For imitate

3. 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 words for imitate

ape, mock

See synonyms for imitate on Thesaurus.com

Other words from imitate

im·i·ta·tor, noun
non·im·i·tat·ing, adjective
o·ver·im·i·tate, verb (used with object), o·ver·im·i·tat·ed, o·ver·im·i·tat·ing.
pre·im·i·tate, verb (used with object), pre·im·i·tat·ed, pre·im·i·tat·ing.
un·im·i·tat·ed, adjective
un·im·i·tat·ing, adjective
well-im·i·tat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use imitate in a sentence

When he adjusted the field to imitate those in the open ocean west of Africa, the turtles swam toward the northwest, likewise ostensibly enabling them to remain within the gyre.
How Sea Turtles Find Their Way - Issue 94: Evolving | Jason G. Goldman | December 16, 2020 | Nautilus
Have your partner stay in the guest room and imitate the kind of noises likely to come out of a typical lovemaking session.
Holiday sex in your parents’ house without getting caught | Michael Alvear | December 15, 2020 | Washington Blade
To call Takashi Murakami just an artist is missing the point because when life starts to imitate art, it’s more than all of that.
Takashi Murakami Takes Part, Then Takes Over | Eugene Robinson | December 13, 2020 | Ozy
That phrase may imitate the majestic gait of profundity, but it’s really just a colorful balloon animal.
Paulo Coelho’s ‘The Archer’ aims for profundity but misses | Ron Charles | November 11, 2020 | Washington Post
We’re not trying to imitate, we’re just driven by pure passion and what our players like.
‘League of Legends’ K-pop group K/DA is about setting, not chasing, the trend | Gene Park | November 6, 2020 | Washington Post

And it is strange that, yeah, the art imitating life and vice versa is something that people are really interested in.
‘Boyhood’ Star Ellar Coltrane: An Astonishing Debut 12 Years in the Making | Kevin Fallon | July 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
He was imitating life and he had these tremendous insights over a huge range.
Mel Brooks Is Always Funny and Often Wise in This 1975 Playboy Interview | Alex Belth | February 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Mueller sings straightforwardly, in the lower end of the register—channeling King without imitating her.
‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical’ Review: A Few Discordant Notes, But Damn Great Songs | Daniel Gross | January 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
One thinks of art imitating life imitating art, and all the chaos that can bring.
The Mad Shooter of Paris Is a ‘Natural Born Killer’ | Christopher Dickey | November 21, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
After a 2-year-old dressed as a tiger and visited the tiger exhibit at the zoo, the real tiger began imitating the boy.
Kids React to Gay Marriage, What’s Wrong With ‘Titanic,’ and More Viral Videos | Julian E. Wright | November 9, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
That remained for M. Dolland, a celebrated physician, to do; and he did it by studying and imitating the formation of the eye.
Gospel Philosophy | J. H. Ward
The nave is modern (by Street, 1877), imitating the choir of the 14th century, with its curious skeleton-vaulting in the aisles.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 | Various
In one respect, however, our poets have been far from imitating the great German.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 67, Number 414, April, 1850 | Various
Her teacher said he had never seen surpassed her genius of imitating the roundness and softness of flesh.
Growing Up | Jennie M. Drinkwater
Can it be wondered that Elizabeth conceived the idea of imitating her sister's policy and forming a "plantation" in the North?
Is Ulster Right? | Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for imitate

imitate

/ (ˈɪmɪˌteɪt) /

verb(tr)

to try to follow the manner, style, character, etc, of or take as a model: many writers imitated the language of Shakespeare
to pretend to be or to impersonate, esp for humour; mimic

to make a copy or reproduction of; duplicate; counterfeit
to make or be like; resemble or simulate: her achievements in politics imitated her earlier successes in business

Origin of imitate

C16: from Latin imitārī; see image

Derived forms of imitate

imitable, adjective
imitability or imitableness, noun
imitator, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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