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Scrabble Bingo of the Day: MIMESIS

MIMESISn pl. -MESISES or -MESES mimicry MIMETICadj

61 points (11 points without the bingo)

MIMESIS is just another term for MIMICRY in the world of zoology, but it's not just limited to the science of animals, it's used elsewhere as well. But no matter where you use the words, their definitions are the same—to IMITATE closely. In the following photo, you'll see a planthopper mimicking a leaf.

Green insect perched on a dark twig surrounded by foliage.

You're going to see a lot of IMITATING going on by humans this Halloween, but in the land of horror movies, my favorite example of mimesis come from John Carpenter's The Thing, in which an alien hides amongst the inhabitants of an Antarctic research station. The life form is able to imitate and reproduce whatever it absorbs, cell for cell—even humans.

It's truly one of the best horror movies for Halloween—one of those movies you can't stop watching over and over again. The film is one hundred percent creepy, thanks in part to the eerie trademark music of isolation and despair employed by Carpenter (this time composed by Ennio Morricone). The special effects are superior to any CGI you'll see these days, especially compared to the half-remake, half-prequel that just came out by director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

The Thing movie poster featuring a creature silhouette with the tagline "It's Not Human. Yet."

The above poster is for the 2011 semi-remake of The Thing.

Synonyms

MIMICRYn pl. -IES an instance of mimicking

Above, some truly creepy physical effects from Carpenter's version.

Related Words

APEvAPED, APING, APES to mimic

APERn pl. -S one that apes

APERYn pl. -ERIES the act of aping

COPYvCOPIED, COPYING, COPIES to imitate COPYABLE adj

COPYCATv-CATTED, -CATTING, -CATS to imitate

COPYISTn pl. -S an imitator

IMITABLEadj capable of being imitated

IMITATE v -TATED, -TATING, -TATES to behave in the same way as

IMITATORn pl. -S one that imitates

MIMEvMIMED, MIMING, MIMES to mimic

MIMERn pl. -S one that mimes

MIMICv-ICKED, -ICKING, -ICS to imitate closely

MIMICALadj of the nature of mimicry

MIMICKER n pl. -S one that mimics

MIMICKING present participle of mimic

MIMING present participle of mime

A silhouetted figure surrounded by radiant light effects.

Insect photo by Mila Zinkova

What's a Scrabble Bingo?

A bingo is when a player empties his or her rack in one turn, placing all seven of their letters on the board to create a word that's at least seven letters long. The term "bingo" is used primarily in the U.S., but elsewhere it's simply known as a "bonus" because you get a bonus of 50 points added to your turn's score. "Scrabble Bingo of the Day" will focus on these high scoring plays, teaching you some interesting and possibly unusual seven-letter or longer words accepted in a game of Scrabble.

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