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Definition of "copycat" [cop•y•cat]

  • One that closely imitates or mimics another. (noun)
  • To act as an imitator or mimic. (verb-intransitive)
  • To imitate closely; mimic. (verb-transitive)
  • Closely imitating or following another: a copycat version of a successful product; a copycat crime. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "copycat" in a sentence
  • "One is that they didn't want to give people ideas -- here's a new, neat, you know, weapon you can build from the Internet, so we get a bunch of people out there that are, to use the term copycat, who say, you know, I'll do something similar."
  • "Of course, the term copycat is too harsh a term for creating a game that already has a rival in the market."
  • "Law enforcement officials said the unrest — including nightly arson and what they described as copycat attacks — was spreading more rapidly than their ability to respond to it."