Standard Lemma guide

mimicry

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Australian, Canada, UK, US: /ˈmɪm.ɪ.kɹi/
  • Australian, Canada, UK, US: /ˈmɪm.ɪ.kɹɪ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: M IH1 M IH0 K R IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An act or ability to simulate or effect the appearance, characteristics, or behavior of someone or something else.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • They say that mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery, but I still think I'm being mocked when he acts just like me.
  • When animal mimicry goes really wrong they don't just look like something that a predator would ignore, they look like lunch.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the act of mimicking; imitative behavior

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: apery

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: impersonation, personation

Narrower terms: parody, mockery, takeoff

3

noun

Meaning 3

the resemblance of an animal species to another species or to natural objects; provides concealment and protection from predators

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: imitation

History

Etymology

From mimic + -ry.

Across languages

Translations

52 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مُشَاكهَة — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Bulgarian: мимикрия (mimikrija) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Catalan: mimetisme — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Chinese Mandarin: 擬態 /拟态 (nǐtài) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Chinese Mandarin: 模仿 (mófǎng) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Czech: mimikry — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Esperanto: kamuflimito — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Finnish: mimiikka — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Finnish: jäljittely — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • French: mimétisme — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • French: mimique — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • German: Mimikry — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • German: Nachahmung — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Greek: μιμητισμός (mimitismós) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Hebrew: חיקוי (khikúy) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Hebrew: חקיינות (khakyanút) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Hindi: अनुकरण (anukraṇ) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Hungarian: mimikri — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Irish: aithriseoireacht — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Irish: athmhagadh — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Italian: mimetismo — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Italian: scimmiottatura — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Italian: scimmiottamento — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Italian: mimica — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Italian: mimetizzazione — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Japanese: 擬態 (gitai) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Kazakh: қорғаныш рең (qorğanyş reñ) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Khmer: ការធ្វើត្រាប់តាម (kaa thvəə trap taam) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Korean: 흉내 (hyungnae) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Korean: 입내 (imnae) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Latin: mīmica — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Latin: mīmētismus — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Lithuanian: mimikrija — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Malayalam: മിമിക്രി (mimikri) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Malayalam: ശബ്ദാനുകരണം (śabdānukaraṇaṁ) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Persian: میمیک (mimik) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Persian: وانمایی (vānemāyi) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Polish: naśladownictwo — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Portuguese: mímica — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Portuguese: mimetismo — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Romanian: mimetism — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Russian: подража́ние (podražánije) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Russian: мими́крия (mimíkrija) — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Spanish: mimetismo — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Spanish: mimetización — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Spanish: remedo — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Spanish: arrendajo — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Swedish: mimikry — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Tagalog: gagad — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Turkish: öyküntü — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Turkish: taklit — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else
  • Vietnamese: sự bắt chước — the act or ability to simulate the characteristics of someone or something else