copycat
/kɑpiˈkæt/ noun, adjective, verb
Forms copycats copycatting copycatted copy cat copy-cat
- noun (informal, derogatory) One who imitates or plagiarizes the work of others.
- 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. “a copycat strangler”
- adjective Imitative; unoriginal. “copycat crime”
- verb (transitive) To act as a copycat; to copy in a shameless or derivative way.
Synonyms
Etymology
Originally American English, from copy + cat (“a former derogatory term for a person”).
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “copycat”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details