copycat 1 of 2

as in imitator
a person who adopts the appearance or behavior of another especially in an obvious way every rock singer who makes it big soon has a whole cluster of copycats

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copycat

2 of 2

verb

1
2
as in to imitate
to use (someone or something) as the model for one's speech, mannerisms, or behavior a performer who slavishly copycats another never rises to the level of true stardom

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of copycat
Noun
The company has grappled with manufacturing issues in the US and a surge in sales of copycat drugs when demand for Wegovy outstripped supply. Dave Smith, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2025 Kirkland Signature The best part about Costco is, inarguably, Kirkland Signature, their line of countless copycats of popular food, decor, or fashion items. Katherine Polcari, Southern Living, 13 Oct. 2025
Verb
North Korea famously hacked the pharmaceutical company Pfizer in an attempt to steal its COVID-19 vaccine technology, and Chinese exfiltrations of U.S. defense industrial base research has led to copycat technological advances in aircraft and missile development. Jacquelyn Schneider, Foreign Affairs, 14 Dec. 2021 Park mentioned the case of the Boston Marathon Bomber, in which social media led to misidentification of suspects, and possibly to copycat cases. Michael M. Dewitt, USA TODAY, 29 Oct. 2021 See All Example Sentences for copycat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for copycat
Noun
  • This quickly became the world's best-selling pen and was soon followed by many imitators that sold in the billions.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 29 Oct. 2025
  • These are people who are in the know, many of whom actually thought of him as kind of a loser, as kind of an imitator.
    Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 27 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Yet Fulton County officials have still insisted the ballots could not be copied or released.
    Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 4 Nov. 2025
  • Promoter sequences are short stretches of DNA that tell the cell’s copying machinery where a new protein starts.
    Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 4 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Tribeca Festival Lisboa programmer Fabio Martins sees originality and emotional truth going further to help Portuguese filmmakers reach international audiences than imitating popular trends in global cinema.
    Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 28 Oct. 2025
  • Maybe that was just art-making imitating life.
    Thomas Page, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • And their reach now goes far beyond the parish; the nuns now have their own Instagram account, currently with 70,000 followers.
    Esme Nicholson, NPR, 4 Nov. 2025
  • Murphy has produced countless TV shows that have been heaped with acclaim, ratings and awards and Kardashian is a reality show star turned businesswoman and billionaire, with millions of followers and fans hooked to her every move.
    Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Given chances to replicate his pivots toward moderation on subjects like Wall Street, housing, and policing, Mamdani did not bend on the Middle East.
    Philip Elliott, Time, 5 Nov. 2025
  • In a similar vein, Timnit Gebru, a computer scientist writing during her time working at Google, warned of the dangers of large language models acting as stochastic parrots, which repeat language patterns without understanding, and in doing so replicate the biases embedded in their training data.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • As more service members reenter civilian life, cities may look to emulate the models of top performers.
    Jordan King, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
  • Because social media offers a sense of community, Kiser's platform may emulate an experience similar to that of group therapy, Aldad said.
    Melina Khan, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • Still, there’s a long way to go to match bats, which can contract and compress their muscles to listen only to certain echoes and can detect something as small as a human hair from several meters away.
    Lily Mae Lazarus, Fortune, 30 Oct. 2025
  • For those skipping the meat, there’s two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches offered, a soft echo of sweetness that might almost pass for dessert, accompanied by another anonymous beverage to wash it all down.
    Danielle Bacher, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means.
    Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
  • To recreate an extinct species exactly, evolution would have to reproduce not just its traits but its entire genetic code — an impossibly specific combination.
    Big Think, Big Think, 29 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Copycat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/copycat. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.

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