How to Use imitative in a Sentence

imitative

adjective
Definition of imitativenext
Synonyms for imitativenext
  • The architecture is imitative of a Japanese temple.
  • So too did the artists bring out the Mendelssohnian grace of the allegro molto from Opus 8, the imitative figures bouncing from one instrument to the next.
    — John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, 28 Feb. 2018
  • The imitative relationship between life and art is at the core of Small’s recovery, though in a more literal way.
    — Washington Post, 8 Apr. 2022
  • Our children see this, and learn to imitate it; for man is an imitative animal.
    — Andrew Delbanco, The New York Review of Books, 8 June 2022
  • Her presence is a series of postures and imitative voice techniques that serve only to further etch the image of junkie mess into this portrait of a great artist who changed an art form.
    — Hilton Als, The New Yorker, 22 Feb. 2021
  • So central to our culture and so often mocked — made the emblem of television at its least imaginative and most imitative, at its tritest and tiredest.
    — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2021
  • Burroughs was interrogating the universe with scissors and a paste pot, and the least imitative of authors was no plagiarist at all.
    — William Gibson, WIRED, 1 July 2005
  • The Beastie Boys are a partly imitative act, and that’s what feels both so genius and so white about them—a combination of total confidence and ironic distance.
    — Josephine Livingstone, The New Republic, 24 Apr. 2020
  • Instead, the lamp’s popularity in offices, libraries and homes gave rise to several rip-offs, some with names as brazenly imitative as Verdelite and...
    — Tim Gavan, WSJ, 23 Feb. 2017
  • The third movement’s opening is announced by Minimalist harp figures and muted tones — suggestive of jazz, but not imitative — in the brasses.
    — Seth Colter Walls, New York Times, 10 June 2018
  • Late Mozart reveals Bach’s influence, and the brief but vital episodes of imitative counterpoint in the first movement were rendered with clarity and momentum.
    — Lukas Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 June 2022
  • Some studied themselves in the wall-to-wall mirrors; others fixed their gaze on Jones, whose eyes moved from body to body as the dancers executed an arm-swinging gesture imitative of immature gawkiness.
    — Peter Marks, Washington Post, 30 Oct. 2019
  • The light bulb, after all, is a supreme specimen of imitative technology, a mechanized candle.
    — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2023
  • Denney then chose Stop Predatory Gambling Idaho to argue against the instant racing imitative.
    — Kimberlee Kruesi, The Seattle Times, 24 July 2018
  • Her singing sounds very much like Holiday but retains its own personality, rather than feeling imitative.
    — Chris Hewitt, Star Tribune, 25 Feb. 2021
  • In other words, this vehicle for producer-star Rebel Wilson isn’t organic even as a genre homage; its Frankensteinian assemblage always feels more imitative than inspired.
    — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 13 May 2022
  • An implication of this broader dynamic might be that environments which change more will have less pressure to enforce imitative conformity.
    — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 21 June 2011
  • He was known for designing houses for prominent clients that were both elaborate and understated and evocative of older structures without being directly imitative of them.
    — Paul Goldberger, New York Times, 10 May 2020
  • Layoffs are the result of imitative behavior and are not particularly evidence-based.
    — Brigid Kennedy, The Week, 17 Feb. 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.
    — Washington Post, 18 Mar. 2022
  • The consequences for Black communities of this imitative gesture were devastating.
    — Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 2 Mar. 2021
  • It’s often noted that Bach was famous during his life more as a performer than as a composer; his gift for improvising imitative counterpoint of superlative complexity was what his reputation rested upon.
    — Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Dec. 2022
  • In February, the council directed staff to collaborate with legal service providers and launch a coordinated imitative to provide access to legal representation to Santa Ana residents at risk of removal who cannot afford an attorney.
    — Jessica Kwong, Orange County Register, 17 May 2017
  • That indifference comes in different shades -- genuine, imitative or self-cultivated.
    — Andrei Kolesnikov, CNN, 21 Sep. 2022
  • Yes, with endless imitative ramifications for minimalist interior design.
    — Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'imitative.' 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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