simulation

American  

[sim-yuh-ley-shuhn] / ˌsɪm jəˈleɪ ʃən /

noun

• simulations
  plural

1. imitation or enactment, as of something anticipated or in testing.

2. the act or process of pretending; feigning.

3. an assumption or imitation of a particular appearance or form; counterfeit; sham.

4. Psychiatry. a conscious attempt to feign some mental or physical disorder to escape punishment or to gain a desired objective.

5. the representation of the behavior or characteristics of one system through the use of another system, especially a computer program designed for the purpose.

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simulation British  

/ ˌsɪmjʊˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or an instance of simulating

2. the assumption of a false appearance or form

3. a representation of a problem, situation, etc, in mathematical terms, esp using a computer

4. maths statistics computing the construction of a mathematical model for some process, situation, etc, in order to estimate its characteristics or solve problems about it probabilistically in terms of the model

5. psychiatry the conscious process of feigning illness in order to gain some particular end; malingering

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonsimulation
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• simulations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of simulation

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English simulacion, from Latin simulātiōn- (stem of simulātiō ) “a pretense”; see simulate, -ion

Explanation

A simulation is a representation of something, not the real thing, like the simulation of life in New York City, seen in movies that were shot on Hollywood sound stages and on the streets of Toronto. A simulation is something that represents something else — it isn't the real thing. At times you might perform a simulation as practice for real life, such as a flight simulation that’s used to train pilots. The word can also be used, often dismissively, to describe something that is a fake, like a simulation of excitement or the simulation of a perfect diamond.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

simulation simulations

Mistaken identity: At the World Cup, the VAR was intervening on simulation.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

It would be a mistake, however, to dismiss Heller as nothing more than an astroturfed simulation of popular constitutionalism.

From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026

During this hack, Claude realized that what it was doing wasn’t something it should be doing in the real world, but it convinced itself that it was living in a simulation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Mason instead used the Besançon Galactic Model, a simulation designed to estimate the distribution and characteristics of stars throughout the Milky Way.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026

Watching myself die on-screen, even if it was just a simulation, always made my insides go cold and hard, like I’d swallowed an iceberg.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Using modelling simulations, they determined the most likely scenario was that the object is powered by a central black hole surrounded by a cocoon of gas that makes it resemble a star.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

Anthropomorphic language can inadvertently shift attention away from the real engineering challenges: ensuring AI systems validate assumptions, distinguish simulations from production environments and operate within appropriate safeguards before taking consequential actions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

To determine how the system worked, the researchers combined in situ spectroscopy, photochemical analysis, finite element simulations, and theoretical calculations.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

The team then compared the geological records with numerical climate model simulations covering the late Pliocene glacial event and the warmer period that followed.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

“Because Erudite developed the simulations, we have an . . . understanding with the Dauntless, Beatrice.”

From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth

Related Words

• reproduction