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
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2
as in parodying
to copy or exaggerate (someone or something) in order to make fun of
imitating someone's stutter and laughing at them is a cruel thing to do
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in copying
to make an exact likeness of
a second-rate artist who was notorious for imitating the works of other painters
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of imitating
An investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said hackers accessed the system by imitating a legitimate user account.
—
Charlotte Reck, CNN Money, 9 Nov. 2025
Life isn’t quite imitating art for Kim Kardashian.
—Jodi Guglielmi, Rolling Stone, 8 Nov. 2025
These drugs can treat type 2 diabetes and obesity by imitating the body's natural amylin.
—Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 6 Nov. 2025
Art imitating life a little bit.
—Senior Editor, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
Leni completed the costume with a wig imitating Camilla’s dark, curly tresses, and wore the character’s most iconic outfit with a white tank top and oversize hairbow.
—Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 1 Nov. 2025
Sitting outside a Catholic church on the French Riviera, Carlo Rovelli jutted his head forward and backward, imitating a pigeon trotting by.
—Zack Savitsky, Quanta Magazine, 29 Oct. 2025
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
In an instance of art imitating life, the film's soundtrack also achieved great success as the highest-debuting soundtrack of 2025 on the Billboard 200.
—Jessica Wang, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Oct. 2025
Charlotte Reck, CNN Money, 9 Nov. 2025
Life isn’t quite imitating art for Kim Kardashian.
—Jodi Guglielmi, Rolling Stone, 8 Nov. 2025
These drugs can treat type 2 diabetes and obesity by imitating the body's natural amylin.
—Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 6 Nov. 2025
Art imitating life a little bit.
—Senior Editor, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
Leni completed the costume with a wig imitating Camilla’s dark, curly tresses, and wore the character’s most iconic outfit with a white tank top and oversize hairbow.
—Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 1 Nov. 2025
Sitting outside a Catholic church on the French Riviera, Carlo Rovelli jutted his head forward and backward, imitating a pigeon trotting by.
—Zack Savitsky, Quanta Magazine, 29 Oct. 2025
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
In an instance of art imitating life, the film's soundtrack also achieved great success as the highest-debuting soundtrack of 2025 on the Billboard 200.
—Jessica Wang, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for imitating
Verb
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The vibrant look included what appeared to be head-to-toe body paint emulating Camilla’s surprise stripes.—
Bailey Richards,
PEOPLE,
1 Nov. 2025
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From past to present, Brandy remains a style icon worth emulating.—
Mecca Pryor,
Essence,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The brand announced the drop on Instagram with a campaign video parodying 1970s game shows.—
Catherine Santino,
PEOPLE,
5 Nov. 2025
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Meta/Facebook has rolled out engaging bots, parodying famous personas such as Jane Austen; Snapchat has offered a chatbot to individual users.—
John Wihbey,
Big Think,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
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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
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Bobbitt said the issue may have been with incorrectly copying and pasting numbers.—
Rachel Royster,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Jeremy Allen White brilliantly channels The Boss without mimicking him.—
Henry Selick,
IndieWire,
6 Nov. 2025
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Prescribed burns help clean up forest debris and stimulate new growth, mimicking natural fire patterns in the high country.—
Sarah Henry,
AZCentral.com,
5 Nov. 2025
Verb
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These contrivances became so well known that, in 2009, the All-American Rejects guitarist Nick Wheeler spent much of his appearance mocking them.—
Kim Hew-Low,
The Atlantic,
10 Nov. 2025
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The music video is a single shot of Welch in the back of a car, singing along in a suit, sporting shades and a cigar, both mocking and inhabiting the position of male dominance.—
Grace Byron,
New Yorker,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Also like the natural world, the Tyranids are patient, slowly devouring the edges of the galaxy and reproducing in unthinkable numbers in the darkness of space.—
Alan Bradley,
Space.com,
8 Nov. 2025
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Women’s free labor in the home subsidized the profits of employers because workers’ families bore the cost of reproducing the future labor force.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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But that’s what a player should be doing.—
Matt Byrne,
Arkansas Online,
9 Nov. 2025
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This year, the majority of players have been wearing poppies on their shirts from October 23 through to November 11, though individuals are free to decide against doing so.—
Eduardo Tansley,
New York Times,
8 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Some experts believe the total number of assets tied up in passive funds could be 2x higher because many active fund managers have started replicating passive fund strategies.—
Mark Dent,
HubSpot,
7 Nov. 2025
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Fans got a glimpse of Jaafar in the role during the November 2025 teaser trailer, which showed the first footage of the young star replicating his uncle's iconic choreography.—
Skyler Caruso,
PEOPLE,
7 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Imitating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/imitating. Accessed 19 Nov. 2025.
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