simulacrum
noun
sim·u·la·crum ˌsim-yə-ˈla-krəm 
-ˈlā-
plural simulacra ˌsim-yə-ˈla-krə
-ˈlā-
also simulacrums 1
: image, representation
a reasonable simulacrum of reality
Martin Mayer
Martin Mayer2
: an insubstantial form or semblance of something : trace
Did you know?
There is a similarity between simulacrum and simulate. Both words come from simulare, a Latin verb meaning "to copy, represent, or feign." Simulacrum is the name for an image or representation, and simulate means "to look, feel, or behave like something."
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Instead of just showing us facts and figures, Cline and her team sought to create a simulacrum of what Disneyland looked like during its July 1955 opening. Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2022 An add-on feature is a five-hour simulacrum of astronaut training, using virtual and mechanical simulators. Edward Rothstein, WSJ, 24 Aug. 2022 And in one of the novel’s many bizarre-but-true episodes, that idea gets turned on its head: Deep in the Utah desert, the Army builds a precise simulacrum of a Berlin neighborhood to practice raining actual carnage down on the German capital. Ron Charles, Washington Post, 26 July 2022 Food stylists are responsible for showcasing your food products in the best possible light, sometimes crafting a simulacrum of your product rather than using the product itself. Patrick Nycz, Forbes, 21 June 2022 That Skinner’s comedy is bent on caricaturing Kardashian aesthetics only further blurs the lines between the Kardashian simulacrum and their fandom. Mj Corey, Vogue, 9 June 2022 Not a simulacrum of his childhood bedroom—the actual bedroom, cut out of his family’s old house in Woodcliff Lake, loaded onto a trailer, and dropped off in the parking lot, as an interactive art exhibit. Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 16 May 2022 Chatbots can now offer a simulacrum of a fully objective, floating ear, incapable of judgment. Ana Cecilia Alvarez, The Atlantic, 1 May 2022 As a result, the android has become not just an occasional babysitter and a source of some bland simulacrum of culture but the child’s primary caregiver. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2022 See More
Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2022 An add-on feature is a five-hour simulacrum of astronaut training, using virtual and mechanical simulators. Edward Rothstein, WSJ, 24 Aug. 2022 And in one of the novel’s many bizarre-but-true episodes, that idea gets turned on its head: Deep in the Utah desert, the Army builds a precise simulacrum of a Berlin neighborhood to practice raining actual carnage down on the German capital. Ron Charles, Washington Post, 26 July 2022 Food stylists are responsible for showcasing your food products in the best possible light, sometimes crafting a simulacrum of your product rather than using the product itself. Patrick Nycz, Forbes, 21 June 2022 That Skinner’s comedy is bent on caricaturing Kardashian aesthetics only further blurs the lines between the Kardashian simulacrum and their fandom. Mj Corey, Vogue, 9 June 2022 Not a simulacrum of his childhood bedroom—the actual bedroom, cut out of his family’s old house in Woodcliff Lake, loaded onto a trailer, and dropped off in the parking lot, as an interactive art exhibit. Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 16 May 2022 Chatbots can now offer a simulacrum of a fully objective, floating ear, incapable of judgment. Ana Cecilia Alvarez, The Atlantic, 1 May 2022 As a result, the android has become not just an occasional babysitter and a source of some bland simulacrum of culture but the child’s primary caregiver. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Latin, from simulare
First Known Use
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1