verb · academic
simulate
UK/ˈsɪmjʊleɪt/US/ˈsɪmjəleɪt/SIM·u·late
to imitate the conditions of a situation or process, often for study or training
Examples
“Scientists simulated the effects of climate change using computer models.”
“In the exam we had to simulate a real patient consultation in the speaking test.”
“The flight simulator allows pilots to practice emergency procedures safely.”
Band 8 sentence
“Researchers simulated urban traffic flows to evaluate the impact of proposed road closures.”
Collocations
- simulate conditions/processes/scenarios
- computer/flight/market simulator
Word family
Common mistakes
use 'simulate' for any 'make like' in casual speech→use 'simulate' for technical/academic imitation
confuse with 'imitate'→simulate (recreate conditions) vs imitate (copy behaviour)
Say it for a higher band
5pretend→6imitate→7+simulate
Synonyms
replicate
model
Easily confused
replicate
“The researchers replicated the original experiment to verify the results.”
model
“They modeled the population growth before running the simulation.”
Related words
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In Sublist 7
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