imitative

American  

[im-i-tey-tiv] / ˈɪm ɪˌteɪ tɪv /

adjective

1. imitating; copying; given to imitation.

2. of, relating to, or characterized by imitation.

3. Biology. mimetic.

4. made in imitation of something; counterfeit.

5. onomatopoeic.

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imitative British  

/ ˈɪmɪtətɪv /

adjective

1. imitating or tending to imitate or copy

2. characterized by imitation

3. copying or reproducing the features of an original, esp in an inferior manner

   imitative painting

4. another word for onomatopoeic

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Other Word Forms

• imitatively adverb
• imitativeness noun
• nonimitative adjective
• nonimitatively adverb
• nonimitativeness noun
• overimitative adjective
• overimitatively adverb
• overimitativeness noun
• preimitative adjective
• unimitative adjective

Etymology

Origin of imitative

From the Late Latin word imitātīvus, dating back to 1575–85. See imitate, -ive

Example Sentences

That was great advice because it was a book that I’d written very much out of imitative aspiration, imitating Joyce and Hemingway.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 26, 2026

The research also details potential breakthroughs in specific areas, including pump-jet propulsion and internal quieting devices, based on "imitative innovation" of Russian technology.

From Reuters • Oct. 9, 2023

It drops humans from eons away and ago into an extinction-level event, and instead of being full-on weird and wondrous about it, prefers to be utterly imitative and complacent.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 9, 2023

But those efforts, like so many film adaptations before them, distill essentially only the basic ingredients of their stage sources — plot, character, music — and as a result feel more imitative than transformative.

From Washington Post • Mar. 18, 2022

I knew it must have been a trick she had taught him, or imitative rodent behavior.

From "Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli