How to Use imitate in a Sentence

imitate

verb
  • She can imitate the calls of many different birds.
  • He's very good at imitating his father's voice.
  • Her style has been imitated by many other writers.
  • It’s not the substance that Democrats should imitate but the style.
    Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 17 Sep. 2022
  • The fringe of the wrap is supposed to imitate the tall desert grasses that the dancers move through during the Bear Dance.
    Courtney Tanner, The Salt Lake Tribune, 31 May 2022
  • A few dozen people showed up to hear who could best imitate the warble of the goose, called nigliq.
    Joshua Partlow, Anchorage Daily News, 27 June 2022
  • As the boys spun the parasols to imitate wheels, Nancy and the Artful Dodger walked to center.
    Sarah Bahr, New York Times, 1 May 2023
  • At the end of his tune, Mayer lets out a loud noise, meant to imitate a donkey call.
    Joelle Goldstein, Peoplemag, 2 Mar. 2023
  • Each tour is framed as a way to meet the artisans, rather than to learn how to imitate their craft.
    Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2022
  • Lots of animals can imitate the sound of purring, among them bears and guinea pigs.
    Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 7 Sep. 2022
  • Yet the way the songs are learned, by trying to imitate a recording or a teacher, is pretty much the same.
    Karen Hopkin, Scientific American, 3 Mar. 2022
  • Davy was on the app, too, spurring on those brave enough to imitate her ambitious style.
    Leah Dolan, CNN, 17 Nov. 2021
  • But the same thing happens — life imitates art and vice versa.
    Cat Cardenas, Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2023
  • And then the Alzheimer’s story — talk about art imitating life.
    Kate Aurthur, Variety, 29 Mar. 2023
  • As the coaches sat on a bench, with iPads in hand, Ohtani grabbed his bat and imitated his batting stance.
    Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2024
  • Half of all writers, per the old joke, try to imitate Hemingway, while the other half try not to.
    Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2024
  • Many hangers-on were so hip that the famous artists imitated them, not the other way around.
    Ian Penman, The New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2023
  • Made from tiny bird bones, the instruments were likely designed to imitate the calls of birds of prey.
    Teresa Nowakowski, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 June 2023
  • Munn shares that the motion is a fidget of Mulaney's that Malcolm has learned to imitate.
    Emma Aerin Becker, Peoplemag, 14 Aug. 2024
  • Satin doesn't have to be made of silk fibers and is often made of synthetic fibers like polyester instead, which imitate the feel of silk.
    Amanda Constantine, Good Housekeeping, 4 Oct. 2022
  • Tony the Tiger is showing off his custom, tiger fur Nikes, his face painted to imitate the team mascot.
    Sarah Michels, cincinnati.com, 13 Aug. 2021
  • Some bird people get into birds’ songs and work hard to describe and imitate them.
    Brian Duff, The New Yorker, 30 May 2022
  • At the core of every pro ballplayer is a kid who developed a love for the game imitating his idols in the backyard.
    Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 21 June 2024
  • Chest compressions are meant to imitate the heart's function of pushing blood to organs of the body.
    Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY, 26 July 2023
  • Not enough and the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires will imitate a jackal stuck in quicksand.
    Dave Vanderwerp, Car and Driver, 29 Nov. 2021
  • The New York Dolls invented punk by trying to imitate her.
    Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 13 Jan. 2022
  • In the clip, Cannon and Monroe wrap themselves in blankets, spin around and imitate singing Carey's iconic high note.
    Ellie Beeck, Peoplemag, 27 Jan. 2023
  • So we’re left with a question: Is art imitating life or shaping it?
    Les Borsai, SPIN, 1 Nov. 2023
  • Some of that’s by design, but some of that is life imitating art — or satire imitating its target.
    Ben Travers, IndieWire, 2 Oct. 2024
  • Sheen had a seven-year run as a fictional president but had no interest in life imitating art.
    Danny Horn, EW.com, 22 Sep. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'imitate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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