copycat

1 of 2

noun

copy·​cat ˈkä-pē-ˌkat 

often attributive

1

: one who imitates or adopts the behavior or practices of another

2

: an imitative act or product

copycat board games

copycat

2 of 2

verb

copycatted; copycatting

intransitive verb

: to act as a copycat

transitive verb

: imitate

Synonyms

Noun

• aper
• copyist
• echo
• follower
• imitator
• rubber stamp
• wannabe
• wannabee

Verb

• clone
• copy
• duplicate
• imitate
• reduplicate
• render
• replicate
• reproduce

Examples of copycat in a Sentence

Noun

She called me a copycat for wearing the same dress.

every rock singer who makes it big soon has a whole cluster of copycats

Verb

asked her stylist to copycat a hairstyle from the magazine

a performer who slavishly copycats another never rises to the level of true stardom

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Federal law normally bans pharmacies from making copycat versions of commercially available drugs. —Jackie Snow, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024

Eli Lilly quickly started sending cease-and-desist letters to companies selling copycat versions. —Bruce Gil, Quartz, 30 Oct. 2024

Verb

North Korea famously hacked the pharmaceutical company Pfizer in an attempt to steal its COVID-19 vaccine technology, and Chinese exfiltrations of U.S. defense industrial base research has led to copycat technological advances in aircraft and missile development. —Jacquelyn Schneider, Foreign Affairs, 14 Dec. 2021

And that applies to fashion design, decor, and even to the travel industry, where there’s a real tendency to copycat successful ideas. —Krista Simmons, Sunset Magazine, 20 Jan. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1896, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1926, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Kids Definition

copycat

noun

copy·​cat

ˈkäp-ē-ˌkat

: one who imitates or adopts the behavior or practices of another