noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The act of imitating. countable, uncountable

   "a pale imitation"

2. 2
   copying (or trying to copy) the actions of someone else wordnet
3. 3
   A copy or simulation; something that is not the real thing. attributive, countable, uncountable

   "imitation leather"

4. 4
   something copied or derived from an original wordnet
5. 5
   the doctrine that representations of nature or human behavior should be accurate imitations wordnet

Show 1 more definition

6. 6
   a representation of a person that is exaggerated for comic effect wordnet

Adjective

1. 1
   not genuine or real; being an imitation of the genuine article wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

caricatureaccordanceactingadoptionaffectedagent

Antonyms

All antonyms

non imitationcreationformalismgenuine article

Example

More examples

"What is the difference between imitation and real diamonds?"

Etymology

From Middle English imitacioun, from Middle French imitacion, from Old French imitacion, from Latin imitatio.

Related phrases

imitation gameimitation is the sincerest form of flatteryimitation laceimitation vanillanon-imitationself-imitation

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.