imitate

Word family

im·i·tate /ˈɪmɪteɪt/ verb [transitiveT]

1 IMITATEto copy the way someone behaves, speaks, moves etc, especially in order to make people laugh 〔尤指为引人发笑而〕模仿

She was a splendid mimic and loved to imitate Winston Churchill.

她是个出色的模仿者，喜欢模仿温斯顿·丘吉尔。

Do not use imitate to mean ‘do the same thing as someone else’. Use copy: She worries that Tom will copy his brother (NOT imitate his brother) and leave home.

表示和其他人做一样的事情时不要用 imitate ，而要用 copy: She worries that Tom will copy his brother (不说 imitate his brother) and leave home. 她担心汤姆会学他的哥哥，离家出走。

2 IMITATEto copy something because you think it is good 仿效

vegetarian products which imitate meat

素肉

The Japanese have no wish to imitate Western social customs and attitudes.

日本人无意仿效西方的社会习俗和处事态度。

—imitator noun [countableC]

Examples from the Corpus

imitate• I had the ability to imitate.• Our methods have been imitated all over the world.• He has a unique ability to imitate any sound he has heard.• And a clear case of life imitating astrology.• "Don't you talk to me like that!" she said imitating her mother's high-pitched voice.• They respond in sympathy to what she is doing and imitate her movements.• An animal acquires the behaviour pattern by imitating it from another.• A lot of writers have tried to imitate Lawrence's style.• She's really good at imitating our teacher's Scottish accent.• It was as if the ecology of the place had chosen to imitate politics.• We imitated the styles of Conrad, Hemingway, and Time magazine.• They still resent the deep disappointment that has followed attempts to imitate the West.

Origin imitate

(1500-1600) Latin past participle of imitari

im·i·tate verb

Syllable

Corpus