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 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 oversized hairbow. — Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 3 Nov. 2026 Rather than simply imitating the brain with silicon chips, the approach uses actual neurons to perform computational work. — Mike McRae 19, New Atlas, 20 Oct. 2026 OpenAI denied intentionally imitating Johansson’s voice and later withdrew the feature. — ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026 Speaking of the oversized, the collection’s Handloom Cardigan fits the bill but spares you from imitating a balloon, courtesy of those vertical stripes (also known as the oldest optical trick in the fashion book). — Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 28 Sep. 2026 Her makeup could not be prettier or more ideal for imitating, with its barely-there shimmer shadow, the softest possible wing, and gloss in what appears to be her natural lip color. — Marci Robin, Allure, 27 Sep. 2026 The league immediately decided Juszczyk was imitating drinking beer. — Armando Salguero Outkick, FOXNews.com, 25 Sep. 2026 In a case of life imitating art, the real-life age gap between actors Reinhart and Bateman is pretty close to that of Olive and Adam. — Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 25 Sep. 2026 Rather than taking advantage of genuine quantum effects, Scholes proposes, life might be imitating them instead. — Elise Cutts, Quanta Magazine, 23 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for imitating
Verb
  • But what begins as emulating her mother’s favorite role-playing game turns fantastical, as the RPG itself bleeds into the real world, channeling Hattie’s grief and forcing her to rely on her father once more.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Nov. 2026
  • The model spotted a bald cap and bushy facial hair while emulating a 72-year-old A-list star.
    — Lara Walsh, InStyle, 2 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • Arrested Development helped popularize the documentary-style approach to sitcoms while parodying the dysfunction of wealthy families, piercing the cultural mythology surrounding them.
    — Skyler Trepel, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Nov. 2026
  • The latter went from working on Star Trek properties (Next Gen, Voyager, Enterprise) to parodying them with MacFarlane on The Orville.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The frenzy over Rodrigo is likely driven by her own previous encounters with allegations of copying on her breakout 2021 album Sour.
    — Bill Donahue, Billboard, 9 Nov. 2026
  • Teams that understand those differences stop copying and pasting the same content everywhere and start creating with intention.
    — Tonia Ryan, Forbes.com, 5 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • Fusion energy has long promised virtually limitless, low-carbon power by mimicking the physical reactions that fuel the Sun.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Color Shift adds blue and red halos around subjects, mimicking the look of a lens with heavy chromatic aberration.
    — Jim Fisher, PC Magazine, 5 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • And because liberals, car purists, and environmentalists couldn’t stand the Cybertruck — mocking everything from its sharp edges to its build quality — buying one became a way to get under their skin.
    — Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 7 Nov. 2026
  • The mocking undertone in my voice mirrors Bola de Nieve’s original interpretation.
    — Ernesto Lechner, Rolling Stone, 5 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • Since 2022, the parasites have been reproducing and moving farther northward.
    — Eric Michel, The Conversation, 6 Nov. 2026
  • On orchestral tracks like the opening scene to John Adams's The Gospel According to the Other Mary, the earbuds did a decent job of reproducing the overall sound.
    — Christian de Looper, PC Magazine, 27 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • An 18-year-old accused of seriously injuring a pedestrian while allegedly doing car stunts in New Haven over the summer was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Tuesday.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 13 Nov. 2026
  • Brown said the district is doing a full review of its eligibility process so these mistakes don’t happen again.
    — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • Whether this fragment is capable of replicating remains unknown.
    — Diana Kwon, Vox, 11 Nov. 2026
  • Experiments replicating hypersonic stress records phase changes in real time.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 4 Nov. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Imitating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/imitating. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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