simulator

American  

[sim-yuh-lay-ter] / ˈsɪm jəˌleɪ tər /

noun

• simulators
  plural

1. a person or thing that simulates.

2. a machine for simulating certain environmental and other conditions for purposes of training or experimentation.

   a flight simulator.

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simulator British  

/ ˈsɪmjʊˌleɪtə /

noun

1. any device or system that simulates specific conditions or the characteristics of a real process or machine for the purposes of research or operator training

   space simulator

2. a person who simulates

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Usage

What does simulator mean? A simulator is a program or machine that simulates a real-life situation, meaning that it creates a virtual version of it, often for the purpose of instruction or experiment, such as a flight simulator. Simulators are frequently used to train people in complicated and often dangerous tasks, such as performing surgery or flying an airplane. Simulators allow them to learn and gain experience in such tasks without the risks. Rarely, the word is also sometimes used to refer to a person who is simulating (faking) an action. Example: This flight simulator allows pilots to become comfortable with the controls without having to do so during an actual flight.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• simulators
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of simulator

First recorded in 1825–35, simulator is from the Latin word simulātor imitator, counterfeiter. See simulate, -tor

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Explanation

A machine that creates the realistic sensation that you're operating a vehicle is a simulator. Pilots practice flying planes using simulators long before they take the controls of a jumbo jet. You can think of a simulator as a device that mimics or simulates an experience, usually making it feel so real that you'd swear you were driving a car or flying an airplane. Many simulators are used in training people to operate vehicles or machinery, while others help teach medical students how to perform surgery, inject medication, and insert breathing tubes. In Latin, simulator means "copier or feigner," from the root similis, "resembling."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

simulator simulators

A Stanford Law School lab looking at AI in legal services tried a negotiation simulator with summer associates from the global law firm Dechert.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

The classical calculations agreed with the experimental results produced by the quantum simulator.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

Almost every one, around 14 of them says Godbold, has already tried out this plane on a flight simulator.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

That makes his lab's ongoing work with its "heatwave simulator" -- which he says is one of the world's only two such systems -- a race against time.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

They put her in the high-fidelity driving simulator.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

Quantum simulators are especially useful for this kind of work because researchers can precisely control them and program them to imitate physical processes that occur at atomic and subatomic scales.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

One way that new players get involved in golf is through golf simulators or venues like Topgolf, which provide a low-stakes way to get introduced to the sport.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

From "heatwave simulators" to ecological bootcamps, scientists and conservationists are trying ways to revive and reinforce the famous coral reefs off Japan's Okinawa, decimated by climate-driven bleaching two summers ago.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

The 55,000-square-foot hall, lit by gaping skylights in its 75-foot-high ceilings, reopened last November as Ballers, a sports club that has three glass-and-mesh-enclosed padel courts, along with golf simulators and courts for squash and pickleball.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

At other times, Neil and Buzz got into the lunar-module simulators and I stayed by myself in the command-module simulator.

From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins

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