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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > INIMITABLE

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pronounce INIMITABLE:

in IM it uh bull
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connect this word to others:

The word inimitable, just like image and imitate, traces back to the Latin imitari, "to copy, to imitate."

Something inimitable can't be copied, can't be imitated: it's peerless, matchless, unrivaled, unsurpassed, un____lleled. 

Can you recall that last synonym? It sounds geometrical and means "having no equal: having nothing that runs alongside it."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)  

definition:

"Inimitable" breaks down into three pieces:
   in-, meaning "not;" 
   "imitate," meaning "to copy, to try to be the same as;" 
   and -able. 

So, someone or something inimitable is too good to ever be perfectly copied or imitated.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "the inimitable voice of Amy Winehouse;" "The smokiness in Amy Winehouse's voice is inimitable."

Other forms: 

The adverb is "inimitably," as in "Amy Winehouse's voice is inimitably smoky."

For a noun, you can pick between "inimitableness" and "inimitability." (I like "inimitability.")

how to use it:

Pick the formal, joyful, semi-common word "inimitable" when you want to emphasize how someone (or something) is truly singular: worthy of imitation yet impossible to imitate accurately.

You can refer to a uniquely talented person as "the inimitable so-and-so," as in "the inimitable Frida Kahlo" and "the inimitable Stephen King."

You can also refer to someone's talent, skill, voice, smile, or other characteristic as inimitable, as in "Morgan Freeman's inimitable voice" and "Karen Allen's inimitable smile."

examples:

"Her mouth curled up on the right side all the time, like she was preparing to smirk, like she'd mastered the right half of the Mona Lisa's inimitable smile."  
  — John Green, Looking for Alaska, 2005

"In the inimitable words of TV pitchman Billy Mays, may he rest in peace: But wait, there's more!"   
  — Melissa Locker, Time, 30 April 2013

has this page helped you understand "inimitable"?

   

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.


study it:

Explain the meaning of "inimitable" without saying "one of a kind" or "unbeatable."

try it out:

As a kid, Moira Macdonald always admired Julie Andrews's singing voice:

"I remember playing my soundtrack albums to 'Mary Poppins' and 'The Sound of Music' over and over, trying to imitate her inimitable voice."

Can you relate? When you were a kid, was there some inimitable singer, musician, athlete, actor, or other star whom you longed to be able to imitate?




before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Literally That."

I’ll give you a gif and several synonyms that describe it, and you figure out which of these synonyms is most literally illustrated in the gif. You can check out some examples here.

Try this one today:

(Source)

A. immaculate
B. unblemished
C. prelapsarian

To see the answer, scroll all the way down. 

review this word:

1. The exact opposite of INIMITABLE is IMITABLE. But a pretty close opposite of INIMITABLE is

A. MALLEABLE: easy to influence.
B. METICULOUS: very careful about details.
C. MIDDLING: medium, moderate, or just okay.

2. In the Los Angeles Times, Alissa Marr argued that there is an "inimitable _____" in the field of product design.

A. need for tech layoffs
B. human touch that AI could never replace
C. demand for business acumen and problem-solving skills




Answers to the review questions:
1. C
2. B

From the game:

I was thinking of prelapsarian: innocent, as if before the lapse into sin, like Adam and Eve before snacking on the forbidden fruit of knowledge.


a final word:


I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.


From my blog:
On vocabulary...
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      How to motivate our kids to write.
      How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
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A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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