as in imitating
to use (someone or something) as the model for one's speech, mannerisms, or behavior
was caught aping the substitute teacher's thick accent
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Recent Examples of aping
For Shorts, the label will appear as a small overlay at the bottom of the video itself, although that will add to the already cluttered look of the TikTok-aping Shorts.
—
ArsTechnica, 27 May 2026
There’s a word for this type of storytelling, and Taccone deserves credit for delivering a superior version of this without outright aping its most famous practitioner.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 24 Apr. 2026
But the series’ genre switch is just a theatrical exercise, like Euphoria is putting on another play, this one against a Harmony Korine– and Quentin Tarantino–aping backdrop.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2026
The re-enactments, which include bomb-making and transportation, as well as the three-pronged plan to escape, have a flavor that calls to mind ’70s heist and spy films, accompanied by Michael James Lee’s jaunty, genre-aping score.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 13 Mar. 2026
Trying To Avoid The Generic However, having minimal buttons is hardly an original design strategy when so many EVs have followed this route (aping Tesla).
—James Morris, Forbes.com, 17 Jan. 2026
Critics accused him of aping Farage’s rhetoric and warned that Labour could lose votes to the left in trying to court the right.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2025
Ryback shows the younger man's relaxation-as-growth around impressive set pieces, including a segment of aping famed concert pianists Alfred Brendel and Glenn Gould as well as Hoffman's blistering rant after a visit to Dachau.
—Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 22 Sep. 2025
ArsTechnica, 27 May 2026
There’s a word for this type of storytelling, and Taccone deserves credit for delivering a superior version of this without outright aping its most famous practitioner.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 24 Apr. 2026
But the series’ genre switch is just a theatrical exercise, like Euphoria is putting on another play, this one against a Harmony Korine– and Quentin Tarantino–aping backdrop.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2026
The re-enactments, which include bomb-making and transportation, as well as the three-pronged plan to escape, have a flavor that calls to mind ’70s heist and spy films, accompanied by Michael James Lee’s jaunty, genre-aping score.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 13 Mar. 2026
Trying To Avoid The Generic However, having minimal buttons is hardly an original design strategy when so many EVs have followed this route (aping Tesla).
—James Morris, Forbes.com, 17 Jan. 2026
Critics accused him of aping Farage’s rhetoric and warned that Labour could lose votes to the left in trying to court the right.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2025
Ryback shows the younger man's relaxation-as-growth around impressive set pieces, including a segment of aping famed concert pianists Alfred Brendel and Glenn Gould as well as Hoffman's blistering rant after a visit to Dachau.
—Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 22 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for aping
Verb
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So in that moment, life is imitating art a little bit.—
Dave Quinn,
PEOPLE,
28 May 2026
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So maybe that was art imitating life.—
Rachel Handler,
Vulture,
18 May 2026
Verb
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Rivals Crystal Palace became the third Premier League club in four years to lift the trophy with Wednesday’s 1-0 win in the final against Spanish side Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig, emulating West Ham (2023) and Chelsea (2025).—
Andy Naylor,
New York Times,
29 May 2026
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His biggest achievement at City has been winning the Premier League-Champions League-FA Cup treble in the 2022-23 season, emulating the feat of Manchester United in 1999.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
19 May 2026
Verb
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Six and Six Private Islands Rah Gili is the first resort from Six & Six Private Islands, a new brand that highlights Maldivian identity rather than copying global trends.—
Jim Dobson,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2026
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Bown and Keynes were careful not to advocate for copying the Chinese model wholesale.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
20 May 2026
Verb
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Instead, pluralism, naturally associated with diversity and popular agency, was made into the cultural face of capitalism—it was branded as a false openness mimicking the free market, as a flattening that might cause art and art history to lose the threads of progress and quality.—
Katy Siegel,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
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Inspired by wetland plants like mangroves, 12-year-old Ella Barth and Esme Tsai’s prototype glass funnel uses layers of coffee filter paper, gravel, sand, ion exchange resin, charcoal and cotton, mimicking a natural filtration process to help rid local tap water of its chalky taste.—
Karen Billing,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Aping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/aping. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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