Word Confusion: Imitate vs Intimidate vs Intimate

Third person present verb: imitates
Past tense or past participle: imitated
Present participle: imitating

Third person present verb: intimidates
Past tense or past participle: intimidated
Present participle: intimidating

Plural for the noun: intimates
Gerund: intimating

Third person present verb: intimates
Past tense or past participle: intimated
Present participle: intimating

• Copy (a person’s speech or mannerisms), especially for comic effect
• Copy, resemble, or simulate

To make timid

• Fill with fear

To overawe or cow, as through the force of personality or by superior display of wealth, talent, etc.

To force into or deter from some action by inducing fear

• Familiar, close
• [Of a place or setting] Having or creating an informal friendly atmosphere
• Characterized by or involving warm friendship or a personally close or familiar association or feeling
• [Of an association, knowledge, understanding, etc.] Arising from close personal connection or familiar experience
• [Of knowledge] Detailed, deep, or thorough

Private and personal

• [Predic.; euphemistic] Used euphemistically to indicate that a couple is having a sexual relationship

[Of women’s clothing] Worn next to the skin under street or outer garments

Showing a close union or combination of particles or elements

Inmost

• Deep within

Of, relating to, or characteristic of the inmost or essential nature

• Intrinsic

Of, relating to, or existing in the inmost depths of the mind

Noun:
A very close friend ¹

Verb, transitive:
Imply or hint ²

• State or make known

The company is providing a business model widely imitated by other corporations, especially its competitors.

For children are what we make them, and however much we lecture them, they’ll imitate a role model of their choice, be it a favorite sports personality, pop artist, TV soap star, or film actor.

And also, importantly, that it does not merely imitate existing models, but itself becomes the example that all others will follow.

She tried to imitate my Scottish accent.

There is nothing wrong in imitating mannerisms found in every human being.

That is, motivated by prestige and upward mobility, lower class women try to imitate the speech of the upper class but miss the target and end up with affrication rather than frication.

He had grown fairly adept at imitating Jimjim’s clipped speech.

He spoke slowly and clearly in his Elneside dialect, instead of imitating the speech of the easterners as he often did now in order to be easily understood.

Synthetic fabrics can now imitate everything from silk to rubber.

Simulation is an analytical method designed to imitate a real-life system.

For example, simulations can be used to imitate a specific market situation.

However, mountain chalets (country houses) built by city-dwellers as vacation homes often imitate the older rural styles.

They intimidated the voters into staying away from the polls.

These are designed to intimidate you back to work before you start.

In my last week I was intimidated by drug users, ordered around like a lackey, and threatened.

Our country is still the target of terrorists who want to kill many and intimidate us all.

I don’t think respect is something that you can get by intimidating someone.

Some of my friends are very wise, which sometimes intimidates me.

So to be honest, it intimidates me, a lowly four-day-a-week contractor.

I don’t usually argue back at him, he intimidates me, but he caught me at a bad time.

It actually slightly intimidated me in return, which I guess was the point.

They are on intimate terms.

It was an intimate little Italian restaurant.

They accomplished quite a bit due to their intimate involvement with their community.

You’ll need an intimate knowledge of the software.

Intimate correspondence can create problems for those involved.

They plan to wait before becoming intimate with one another.

I do not want the intimate details of his sexual encounters.

It’s an intimate little café where we can relax and talk.

You are too young to handle an intimate relationship.

There’s this boutique that sells the most fabulous intimate apparel.

We’ll need a more intimate analysis.

It was an intimate mixture of elements.

The class will explore the intimate structure of an organism.

Their most intimate beliefs are still flawed.

Noun:
Peter was within his circle of intimates.

We were intimates, friends who could share our deepest fears, loves, and hopes.

Her pro-euthanasia friends and intimates were secure in their moral knowledge and capacities when she took her fatal dose.

Verb, transitive:
He had already intimated that he might not be able to continue.

Lane intimated the donations were disclosed in the annual report, however finding the exact reference in the 110 pages has eluded your correspondent.

Mr. Hutchison has intimated his decision to retire.

I understand that five NCL teams have already intimated that they would like to join the summer-based league.

1. Early 17th century (as a noun) from the late Latin intimatus, a past participle of the Latin intimare meaning impress, make familiar, from intimus meaning inmost.
2. Late Middle English as intimation.

   Early 16th century, from the late Latin intimat- meaning made known, from the verb intimare (see intimate 1).