imitate

verb im·i·tate \ ˈi-mə-ˌtāt \

|Updated on: 10 Jun 2018

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Examples: imitate in a Sentence

Definition of imitate

imitated; imitating

transitive verb

1 : to follow as a pattern, model, or example

2 : to be or appear like : resemble

3 : to produce a copy of : reproduce

4 : mimic, counterfeit

can imitate his father's booming voice

—

imitator

play \ˈi-mə-ˌtā-tər\ noun

See imitate defined for English-language learners

See imitate defined for kids

Examples of imitate in a Sentence

Her style has been imitated by many other writers.
He's very good at imitating his father's voice.
She can imitate the calls of many different birds.

Recent Examples of imitate from the Web

There's no better hat-wearer to imitate than QE2 herself.

— rachel epstein, Marie Claire, "Meghan Markle and the Queen Are Planning to Hang Out Together in Cheshire," 4 June 2018
Proving that the author was Colangelo himself, on the other hand, would be tricky, as writing styles can be imitated, Giles said.

— tom avril, Philly.com, "How computer science could tie Sixers GM Colangelo to mysterious Twitter accounts," 30 May 2018
Armstrong said the latest photo was intended to imitate an incident last month in which a white member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity was photographed at a party wearing blackface.

— kim christensen, latimes.com, "New blackface incident at Cal Poly prompts calls for state investigation," 5 May 2018
In the art imitates life department, the Season 7 finale finds Rachel and Mike getting married.

— kristi turnquist | the oregonian/oregonlive, OregonLive.com, "2018 TV finale dates: When do your favorites sign off?," 25 Apr. 2018
Unlike the polar bear hair that the researchers were imitating, this fiber does not have a thick outer coating.

— chris lee, Ars Technica, "Porous silk fiber traps heat, hides a rabbit from IR camera," 4 Apr. 2018
The sequence may imitate a shad fighting to maintain equilibrium despite the cold.

— frank sargeant, AL.com, "Downsizing for lethargic winter bass," 31 Jan. 2018
The Boston Globe reports that, according to multiple sources, the White House staffers who help control President Trump’s Twitter feed are quite devoted to accurately imitating their addled boss.

— benjamin hart, Daily Intelligencer, "Report: Trump’s Tweets Include Intentional Grammatical Errors," 22 May 2018
In a 2018 example of life imitating art (well, a kind of art), Brad Pitt bid on Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke in an L.A. charity silent auction hosted by Sean Penn in January.

— hilary weaver, Vanities, "Brad Pitt Gave Emilia Clarke the Best Night of Her Life," 18 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'imitate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of imitate

borrowed from Latin imitātus, past participle of imitārī "to follow as a pattern, copy," frequentative derivative of a presumed verb *imā- "make a copy," perhaps going back to Indo-European *h₂im-, whence also Hittite hima-, himma- "substitute, replica, toy"

Note: Aside from Hittite, evidence for an etymon *h₂im- is lacking. See also etymology and note at emulous.

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1534

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

imitate Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of imitate

copy, imitate, mimic, ape, mock mean to make something so that it resembles an existing thing. copy suggests duplicating an original as nearly as possible.