1
as in imitation
using or marked by the use of something else as a basis or model
your writing style tends to be imitative of whichever author you've recently read
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2
as in synthetic
being such in appearance only and made with or manufactured from usually cheaper materials
an imitative extract never has the flavor of the real thing
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Recent Examples of imitative
It may be borrowed or coined, named after a person, inspired by a place or imitative of a sound.
—
Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2025
Conversations in dorm rooms and lecture halls consist of roughly 97% university-loathing and imitative protests to fire coaches and athletic directors.
—Noah White, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2025
Third-party imitative learning from an immigrating parrot’s flockmates may facilitate overall group integration and social bonding and may even give rise to cultural conventions of coordinated movements or gestures.
—Grrlscientist, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
In Roeck’s picture, competitive, rather than imitative, habits of mind rose from religious warfare, establishing a cutthroat system of cultural and economic innovation which lasts to this day.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 28 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for imitative
Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2025
Conversations in dorm rooms and lecture halls consist of roughly 97% university-loathing and imitative protests to fire coaches and athletic directors.
—Noah White, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2025
Third-party imitative learning from an immigrating parrot’s flockmates may facilitate overall group integration and social bonding and may even give rise to cultural conventions of coordinated movements or gestures.
—Grrlscientist, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
In Roeck’s picture, competitive, rather than imitative, habits of mind rose from religious warfare, establishing a cutthroat system of cultural and economic innovation which lasts to this day.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 28 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for imitative
Recent Examples of Synonyms for imitative
Adjective
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Without synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, researchers estimate farmers could only feed around half of the approximately eight billon people on the planet.—
Jackie Flynn Mogensen,
Scientific American,
1 June 2026
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In practice, Teng explained, this means customers will soon be able to create a synthetic version of certain stocks by converting them into a digital token on the company’s BNB blockchain.—
Jeff John Roberts,
Fortune,
1 June 2026
Adjective
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It’s supposed to be mimetic of speech.—
Andrew Marantz,
New Yorker,
5 Apr. 2026
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One of the most delightful examples of mimetic architecture along Route 66, this West Hollywood gem does exactly what the structure suggests: serves mouthwatering hot dogs.—
Zoey Goto,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Everyone in the community center put down their faux salads to stare at us.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 June 2026
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The store offers an extensive botanical shop and with a large assortment of both faux and dried botanicals for DIY arrangements or on-site styling help from an expert.—
Fousia Abdullahi,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
2 June 2026
Adjective
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Skubal, recovering from an innovative new surgery to remove a loose body from his left elbow, is scheduled to throw another simulated game Monday.—
Levi Weaver,
New York Times,
1 June 2026
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Tigers ace Tarik Skubal returned to throwing barely a week after having the procedure and threw a simulated game 20 days after the surgery.—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
30 May 2026
Adjective
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The show's plot revolves around tropes that are intentionally comforting and formulaic—fake dating, jock meets girl next door, and opposites attract—and evidently, the styling follows suit.—
Daisy Maldonado,
InStyle,
27 May 2026
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Designed with formulaic, surgical clarity, its rules have few exceptions.—
Katie Thornton,
Harpers Magazine,
26 May 2026
Adjective
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The company has reformulated its in-house Good & Gather brand to reduce artificial colors and sugar content.—
Aldo Svaldi,
Denver Post,
31 May 2026
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The patched up, uneven Balboa Stadium track was so hard that regular artificial surface spikes had trouble penetrating it.—
Scott M. Reid,
Oc Register,
30 May 2026
Adjective
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Lewis oversaw workshops with school kids himself, traveling to schools in his free time, staging mock trials and handing out copies of legal documents, like the Constitution.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
31 May 2026
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Each year, a different brother played Paddy, lying in the coffin, where he was roasted by a series of mock eulogies.—
Peter Hessler,
New Yorker,
31 May 2026
Adjective
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In the show, shy Briar U music major Hannah Wells (Ella Bright) and cocky team captain Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli) begin fake-dating to try to catch the attention of Hannah’s crush.—
Bailey Bujnosek,
InStyle,
28 May 2026
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The schemes involve the use of fake court documents regarding false traffic and criminal infractions.—
David Goodhue,
Miami Herald,
28 May 2026
Video
A Look at Uncommon Onomatopoeia
Some imitative words are more surprising than others
Cite this Entry
“Imitative.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/imitative. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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