William Shakespeare
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They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but we’ll posit that emulation is even more so. What’s the difference between imitating and emulating? Sometimes not a thing: emulate can be used as a synonym of imitate, as in “a painter who emulates her teacher’s style.” But more often, emulate is about trying to equal or surpass someone you admire by striving to master what they’ve accomplished. The word was adopted in the late 16th century from a form of the Latin word aemulārī, meaning “to vie with; to rival; to imitate.” Imitate was adopted about fifty years earlier from a form of the Latin word imitārī, meaning “to follow as a pattern; to copy.” Emulate emulated its success.
Examples of emulate in a Sentence
William Norwich, Vogue, 9 Sept. 2008
Although some schools are postponing new projects because of the faltering economy, others are forging ahead with plans to emulate freshman programs that have long existed at some of the nation's oldest colleges.
—Jeninne Lee-St. John, Time, 27 Oct. 2008
I started out emulating Chandler in that first book, maybe the first book and a half, because I was in my novitiate, and whenever I wasn't clear on what to do I would actively think about Chandler and what Marlow would have done.
—Robert B. Parker et al., Colloquium on Crime, 1986
She grew up emulating her sports heroes.
artists emulating the style of their teachers
Jordan Julian, InStyle, 6 Jan. 2026
Because if Philly can emulate any of its offensive firepower from a season ago, its defense is absolutely still a championship-caliber one.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 5 Jan. 2026
This was the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, which was founded in 1971 in Lima, and aimed to create a community, especially involving young people, that emulated the closely supervised life of pre-Vatican II Catholicism.
—Paul Elie, New Yorker, 5 Jan. 2026
The 25-year-old isn’t outside the progressive bubble trying to emulate Mamdani.
—Ross O'Keefe, The Washington Examiner, 1 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for emulate
Cite this Entry
“Emulate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emulate. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.
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