copycat
/kɑpiˈkæt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.92 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A criminal who imitates the crimes of another; specifically, a criminal who commits the same crime, especially a highly-publicized one, that has recently been committed by someone else.
adj
Example Sentences
- "And in it all they are merely copy-cats—servile followers of the aristocratic creed, but without the genuine prestige of the old-time nobilities."
- "I wanted to make them brilliant. I wanted to make them interesting. And of course I could not do it by myself. I am nothing but a copycat. I just quoted a lot of things I had heard you say; and I did worse than that, Peter."
- "Early offerings--many of them packaged in sultry covers featuring buxom women in silk pajamas--were huge sellers. But when copycats and counterfeiters drove down margins, Chan switched to real estate, snapping up 200 acres of land in the city of Guigang and erecting dozens of office towers and residential developments. Among his most ambitious recent projects: a luxury Guigang housing complex dubbed "Wealthy Persons' New Town.""
- "a copycat strangler"
- "copycat crime"
- "“Because of my size, I was a natural leader in junior high school. Gangs are the most copycat of subcultures. It used to be zoot suits; now it's tattoos. When I was thirteen, I got a tattoo.”"
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /kɑpiˈkæt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
copycats (plural)
copy cat (alternative)
copy-cat (alternative)
more copycat (comparative)
most copycat (superlative)
copycats (present, singular)
copycatting (participle, present)
copycatted (participle, past)
copycatted (past)