Scrabble Bingo of the Day: MIMESIS

MIMESIS  n pl. -MESISES or -MESES  mimicry  MIMETIC adj

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.

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

Synonyms

MIMICRY  n pl. -IES  an instance of mimicking

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

Related Words

APE  v APED, APING, APES  to mimic
APER  n pl. -S  one that apes
APERY  n pl. -ERIES  the act of aping
COPY  v COPIED, COPYING, COPIES  to imitate  COPYABLE adj
COPYCAT  v -CATTED, -CATTING, -CATS  to imitate
COPYIST  n pl. -S  an imitator
IMITABLE  adj  capable of being imitated
IMITATE  v -TATED, -TATING, -TATES  to behave in the same way as
IMITATOR  n pl. -S  one that imitates
MIME  v MIMED, MIMING, MIMES  to mimic
MIMER  n pl. -S  one that mimes
MIMIC  v -ICKED, -ICKING, -ICS  to imitate closely
MIMICAL  adj  of the nature of mimicry
MIMICKER  n pl. -S  one that mimics
MIMICKING  present participle of mimic
MIMING  present participle of mime

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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