simulacrum Hear it!

simulacrum Definition

simu·la·crum (sim′yo̵̅o̅ lākrəm)

noun pl. -·cra-krə

  1. an image; likeness
  2. a vague representation; semblance
  3. a mere pretense; sham

Etymology: L < simulare: see simulate

simulacrum Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • humanity: It should be added that Eva herself appears in the photograph as well as the simulacra of humanity.
  • reality: It is more difficult to create a convincing digital simulacrum of reality than it is to create a reality that only exists digitally.

Converse of object

  • create: It is more difficult to create a convincing digital simulacrum of reality than it is to create a reality that only exists digitally.
  • present: If you present a simulacrum of a 17th century performance to a 20th century audience, what response do you get?
  • produce: Darwinian natural selection, although it involves no true design at all, can produce an uncanny simulacrum of true design.
  • become: Signs are not the reflection of a basic reality any more; they become simulacra, a term borrowed by Baudrillard from Ecclesiates.

Adjective modifier

  • human: People seem to have confidence in these human simulacra because they can provide familiar conversational signals and feedback.
  • digital: It is more difficult to create a convincing digital simulacrum of reality than it is to create a reality that only exists digitally.
  • convincing: Among the trees, girls dance in a not completely convincing simulacrum of wild abandon.
  • mere: Perhaps most of us are well aware that, in this age of infotainment, politics is a mere simulacrum of politics.
  • pure: It bears no relation to any reality whatever: it is its own pure simulacrum.
simulacrum Quotes

Life itself is but the shadow of death, and souls departed but the shadows of the living. All things fall under this name.The sun itself is but the dark simulacrum, and light but the shadow of God.

—Browne, SirThomas