IMITATING Synonyms: 73 Similar and Opposite Words

imitating

verb

present participle of imitate

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

Relevance

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

as in copying

to make an exact likeness of a second-rate artist who was notorious for imitating the works of other painters

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 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 One year later, Clooney, 65, is back at the Venice Film Festival for a spin in the spotlight on the opening night for a bit of life imitating art. — Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 2 Sep. 2026 Slop is formulaic and impersonal, the aggregate of everything that is already imitating everything else. — Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for imitating

Verb

There are also two shallow soaking pools to enjoy—one acts as a wave pool, emulating the rocking of the ship.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
AeroSHARK achieves a similar effect by emulating nature's design.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of emulating

Verb

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
The White House announced Arcade on social media with a series of animations parodying Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo loading screens.

— Lou Kesten, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of parodying

Verb

Rather than simply copying that, but with a slab of batteries under the cabin, the Fiat Multiplay explores the idea of a vehicle that’s adaptable, transforming from a three-row people carrier to a pickup.

— Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 13 Oct. 2026
The company said a self-copying AI built on small models would spread slowly, with the number of infected devices doubling every few days, but would be hard to stamp out once loose.

— Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of copying

Verb

The twist was that Japanese denim-spinners weren’t mimicking the denims of the Eighties.

— Matt Alt, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2026
The biggest challenges, its designers say, were mimicking the fade from crisp morning rays to bright noon light to a soft evening glow, and creating a sense of depth to conjure the distant sky.

— Emma Barker, Time, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of mimicking

Verb

Reels captured everything from dancing and DJ parties at protest sites to songs mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

— Ayushi Shah, CNN Money, 10 Oct. 2026
At this point in the shoot, the host segments that serve as interstitials for the movie mocking that made the original a success have all been filmed.

— Joe Otterson, Variety, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of mocking

Verb

In 2003, however, Kember made a splash with Forged Prescriptions, a re-release that favored fuller mixes and extra overdubs which the band had jettisoned owing to the difficulty of reproducing them.

— Gabriel Szatan, Pitchfork, 18 Oct. 2026
Future work will examine whether reproducing more of the intestine’s physical and chemical conditions can help maintain bacterial activity and improve performance.

— Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of reproducing

Verb

Any company doing a div-recap is likely taking a forward-looking view that the IPO market will be closed in the short run.

— Hugh Leask, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
Donaldson’s wife, Eleanor Donaldson, 60, was found to have aided and abetted her husband’s offenses for witnessing the abuse and doing nothing to intervene.

— ABC News, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of doing

Verb

The stop is part of the president’s broader swing through traditionally red states, a strategy one Republican source told The Hill is aimed at replicating his presidential election turnout for the midterms.

— The Hill Staff, The Hill, 14 Oct. 2026
The tailoring brand was founded in Osaka in 1954 and got its start replicating Ivy League style.

— Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of replicating

Browse Nearby Words

imitates

imitating

imitation

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Imitating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/imitating. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of imitating

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

compunction

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes