imitated
imitated — verb
- imitatedpresent simple I / you / we / they
- imitateds3rd person singular
- imitateding-ing form
- imitatededpast simple
1. To copy the way a person speaks, moves, or acts, often in order to learn a skill
To copy the way a person speaks, moves, or acts, often in order to learn a skill or to make people laugh.
Young children often imitate the gestures of their parents without realizing it.
imitate + noun phrase (gestures of parents)
The comedian imitated the president's voice perfectly during the show.
collocation: imitate someone's voice
Some parrots can imitate human speech with surprising accuracy.
A young guitarist spent months trying to imitate the playing style of her favourite musician.
The dance instructor asked the class to imitate each movement she made.
- originate
To create something new rather than copying
文法句型
imitate + noun phrase (the person, sound, or action being copied)
用法筆記
The object of this sense is usually a person's voice, style, gestures, or behaviour. The verb is transitive, so it must be followed directly by the object without a preposition.
常見錯誤
2. To have a natural appearance or quality that is similar to another thing, withou
To have a natural appearance or quality that is similar to another thing, without any deliberate act of copying.
The pattern on the butterfly's wings imitates the eyes of a much larger animal.
inanimate subject + imitates
This synthetic fabric is designed to imitate the feel of real leather.
passive: be designed to imitate
The building's modern design imitates the shape of a traditional sailing boat.
Some plastic products are made to imitate the colour and feel of natural stone.
The bird's song imitates the ringing sound of a telephone.
- differ from
To be unlike or have a different appearance
文法句型
imitate + noun phrase (the thing being resembled)
用法筆記
The subject of this sense is typically an inanimate thing (nature, a product, a design) rather than a person acting deliberately. The resemblance happens by design or by nature, not by choice.
常見錯誤
3. To produce a version of something that is almost exactly the same as the origina
To produce a version of something that is almost exactly the same as the original, such as a document, a piece of art, or an object.
The museum lets visitors imitate the paintings using only pencil and paper.
imitate + art object
Early printers imitated handwritten pages so that books could reach more readers.
The machine imitates the shape of any key from a simple photograph.
The copy perfectly imitated the artist's painting style and fooled many experts.
A good translation should imitate the rhythm and feeling of the original text.
文法句型
imitate + noun phrase (the object being reproduced)
用法筆記
This sense emphasises the outcome — the produced copy — rather than the act of mimicking behaviour. It overlaps with 'reproduce', though 'imitate' can allow small differences while 'reproduce' suggests exactness.