mimicry

American  

[mim-ik-ree] / ˈmɪm ɪk ri /

noun

• mimicries
  plural

1. the act, practice, or art of mimicking.

2. Biology. the close external resemblance of an organism, the mimic, to some different organism, the model, such that the mimic benefits from the mistaken identity, as seeming to be unpalatable or harmful.

3. an instance, performance, or result of mimicking.

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mimicry British  

/ ˈmɪmɪkrɪ /

noun

1. the act or art of copying or imitating closely; mimicking

2. the resemblance shown by one animal species, esp an insect, to another, which protects it from predators

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mimicry Scientific  

/ mĭm′ĭ-krē /

1. The resemblance of one organism to another or to an object in its surroundings for concealment or protection from predators.

2. See also aggressive mimicry Batesian mimicry Müllerian mimicry

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• mimicries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of mimicry

First recorded in 1680–90; mimic + -ry

Explanation

Mimicry is the art of imitation, which is practiced the world over, from annoying siblings who repeat every word you say, to professional comedians who impersonate famous people onstage. Mimicry comes from a Greek word for mime: a performer who silently imitates gestures and expressions. Usually mimicry refers to imitation that is meant to make fun of the thing imitated, often in an unkind way. Think of the class clown’s mimicry of your French teacher’s overly precise accent. It entertained the class, but got him sent to the principal’s office.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mimicry mimicries

To Bateman, no amount of convincing mimicry changes the fact that an AI figure has never actually experienced the emotions it’s portraying.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

Scientists say the finding offers valuable insight into how mimicry evolves and the ecological functions these adaptations can serve.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 17, 2026

This mimicry was at the heart of his brilliant comedy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025

But these long, hot days are just mimicry.

From Salon ● May 2, 2025

Therefore I propose that someone with a keen sense of the theatrical, a talent for mimicry and improvising dialogue—a playwright, perhaps?—be engaged as an understudy to the ghost, as it were.”

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

But she somehow progressed from entertaining her friends with mimicries to playing to paying houses.

From Time Magazine Archive

In private, her character is less appalling, though she is noted for her impudent mimicries of Moran & Mack, Maurice Chevalier, Fanny Brice, Eddie Cantor, Groucho Marx.

From Time Magazine Archive

The little mimicries of Albert Jekyl, as he described Mrs. Ricketts, the few depreciatory remarks of Lady Hester concerning her, would have outweighed her worth had her character been a cornucopia of goodness.

From The Daltons, Volume I (of II) Or,Three Roads In Life by Lever, Charles James

It may be a particular trait and accent in poetry, and the public, weary of the mimicries, begin to dislike the original.

From How to Fail in Literature; a lecture by Lang, Andrew

With mimicries of dance she wakes The lordly gallery’s silent floor, And climbing up on tiptoe, makes The old-world mirror smile once more.

From Books and Habits from the Lectures of Lafcadio Hearn by Hearn, Lafcadio

Related Words

• pastiche