IMITATION
Dictionary entry overview: What does imitation mean?
• IMITATION (noun)
The noun IMITATION has 4 senses:
1. the doctrine that representations of nature or human behavior should be accurate imitations
2. a copy that is represented as the original
3. copying (or trying to copy) the actions of someone else
4. a representation of a person that is exaggerated for comic effect
Familiarity information: IMITATION used as a noun is uncommon.
• IMITATION (adjective)
The adjective IMITATION has 1 sense:
1. not genuine or real; being an imitation of the genuine article
Familiarity information: IMITATION used as an adjective is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
• IMITATION (noun)
Meaning:
The doctrine that representations of nature or human behavior should be accurate imitations
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("imitation" is a kind of...):
doctrine; ism; philosophical system; philosophy; school of thought (a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "imitation"):
mimesis (the imitative representation of nature and human behavior in art and literature)
Antonym:
formalism (the doctrine that formal structure rather than content is what should be represented)
Meaning:
A copy that is represented as the original
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
counterfeit; forgery; imitation
Hypernyms ("imitation" is a kind of...):
copy (a secondary representation of an original)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "imitation"):
fake; postiche; sham (something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be)
Meaning:
Copying (or trying to copy) the actions of someone else
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("imitation" is a kind of...):
copying (an act of copying)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "imitation"):
emulation (effort to equal or surpass another)
mimicry (the resemblance of an animal species to another species or to natural objects; provides concealment and protection from predators)
Meaning:
A representation of a person that is exaggerated for comic effect
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
caricature; impersonation; imitation
Hypernyms ("imitation" is a kind of...):
humor; humour; wit; witticism; wittiness (a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "imitation"):
mock-heroic (a satirical imitation of heroic verse)
burlesque; charade; lampoon; mockery; parody; pasquinade; put-on; sendup; spoof; takeoff; travesty (a composition that imitates somebody's style in a humorous way)
• IMITATION (adjective)
Meaning:
Not genuine or real; being an imitation of the genuine article
Synonyms:
faux; imitation; simulated; fake; false
Context examples:
it isn't fake anything; it's real synthetic fur / faux pearls / false teeth / decorated with imitation palm leaves / a purse of simulated alligator hide
Similar:
artificial; unreal (contrived by art rather than nature)
