copycat

[ kop-ee-kat ]

noun

1. a person or thing that copies, imitates, mimics, or follows the lead of another, as a child who says or does exactly the same as another child.

adjective

1. imitating or repeating a recent, well-known occurrence:

   a copycat murder.

verb (used with object)

, cop·y·cat·ted, cop·y·cat·ting.

1. to imitate or mimic:

   new domestic wines that copycat the expensive imports.

2. to copy slavishly; reproduce:

   The clothes were copycatted straight from designer originals.

copycat

/ ˈkɒpɪˌkæt /

noun

1. informal.
   1. a person, esp a child, who imitates or copies another
   2. ( as modifier )

      copycat murders

Other Words From

• copy·cat·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of copycat¹

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900; copy + cat ( def )

Example Sentences

The only problem: This is an elaborate two-part copycat that blatantly plagiarized the exact contents of earlier X posts that happened months before.

From Slate

The copycat post banks on the proven virality of its parts and the fact that many users haven’t seen the original posts yet.

From Slate

They dismissed the measure’s victory as the last gasp of a white electorate and reassured Latinos who lived in states that spawned dozens of copycat laws, measures and politicians by retelling the Democratic triumphalist part like it was gospel.

From Los Angeles Times

On one level, you can understand this - many of these inexplicable assaults on the community are copycat in nature.

From BBC

Federal law normally bans pharmacies from making copycat versions of commercially available drugs.

From Los Angeles Times