imitating

present participle of imitate
1
as in emulating
to use (someone or something) as the model for one's speech, mannerisms, or behavior teenage musicians who imitate whichever rock stars are hot

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 imitating Slop is formulaic and impersonal, the aggregate of everything that is already imitating everything else. Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2026 Even white people imitating Black people don’t talk like that anymore. Alex Ritman, Variety, 28 Aug. 2026 In the limited series, the cast attends a fan convention where they get caught up in a dangerous life-imitating-art situation — a premise drawing comparisons to the beloved sci-fi comedy Galaxy Quest. James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 20 Aug. 2026 Krasner warned potential copycats who were thinking of imitating Hughes' behavior. Kelsie Cairns , Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 20 Aug. 2026 For an industry watching this unfold, the lesson is not that scarcity marketing is a clever new tactic worth imitating everywhere. Olivia Shalhoup, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026 Philip Sidney’s brackets provided a blueprint for elevated expression, and writers loved imitating him. Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2026 The future of flooring, countertops, and walls isn’t about imitating nature. Better Homes & Gardens, 14 Aug. 2026 At this point, neither the players nor the audience knows one player isn’t getting the music or instructions at all, and is just imitating everyone else. Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 11 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for imitating
Verb
  • Elf, however, deliberately taps into a cartoonish side of stop-motion by emulating the look of Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials.
    James Grebey, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026
  • By listening, emulating, learning—and taking other people’s music to find my own voice.
    Danny Klein, SPIN, 27 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Over two months, the protesters and their supporters – most who appeared to be digitally-savvy GenZ – used Instagram and Snapchat to connect, organize, and share countless reels parodying the government.
    Omkar Khandekar, NPR, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The Onion, meanwhile, has set up its own Infowars webpage on its website, running videos of shows parodying Jones.
    Jim Vertuno, Fortune, 21 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Don't start sending aggressive emails or copying numerous people on every message.
    William Phillips, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Instead of copying each motion, the AI learned the underlying coordination principles.
    Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • At the University of Mississippi, a video went viral of a Black woman surrounded by white students and the white students mimicking ape-like motions toward the woman and making monkey-like calls.
    Irene Wright, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Researchers have developed a six-legged robot that can learn to walk by mimicking a stick insect’s movement patterns.
    Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Former Ferrari president and chairman Luca di Montezemolo joined analysts and investors in mocking the model as ugly and decidedly un-Ferrari-like at a time where other luxury automakers were scaling back their own EV efforts amid low demand.
    Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Thousands of comments flooded the post mocking the department for spending its time on such a trivial matter.
    Frank Landymore, Futurism, 27 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • To avoid reproducing a rentier economy dependent on transit fees and foreign concessions, the Syrian state must reinvest project revenues in local economies.
    Jesse Marks, Foreign Affairs, 31 Aug. 2026
  • For as long as a queen is reproducing at a steady clip, all the other females in her colony will be totally infertile.
    Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 26 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Subsense, which has raised $27 million in funding, is currently doing preclinical work, experimenting with various elements of the technology and conducting some experiments on mice.
    Alexei Oreskovic, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Now, the two men — coach and GM — are in the process of doing exactly as each promised when they were hired.
    Dan Wiederer, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The show also pokes fun at the late 1990s and early 2000s liberal cultural consensus that was upheld in other popular culture of the time while also both replicating and subverting stereotypes of suburban Southern white Americans.
    Jordana Rosenfeld, Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Aug. 2026
  • As for Greathouse replicating his CFP performances of two years ago … that feels like a reach, even for this hypothetical exercise.
    Pete Sampson, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Imitating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/imitating. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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