Is there a word that means "appears like an exact copy but actually isn't"

Question

"The copies of texts transcribed by the monks were usually XXX because of inevitable human error."

"Her lack of resources meant that her outfits were XXX of the ones she saw in fashion magazines."

"The unicode characters '05AD' and '0596' are XXX"

EDIT - for further context, which should have been added by the poster, the unicode characters '05AD' and '0596' are two near-identical characters from the Hebrew alphabet. A less demanding example might have been "em dash" and "en dash", or a lowercase L ("l") and the numeral for one ("1").

Answer 1

• Simulacrum - "a slight, unreal, or superficial likeness or semblance."

Answer 2

Her lack of resources meant that her outfits were "replicas"/"rough imitations"/"crude copies" of the ones she saw in fashion magazines.

• replica - "any close copy or reproduction."

• rough - "executed or ventured hastily, tentatively, or imperfectly"

• crude - "not carefully or skillfully made; rough: a quick, crude sketch."

Answer 3

There are differences of nuance between your examples, and I'm not sure there's a single word that covers all cases equally well.

"The copies of texts transcribed by the monks were usually word because of inevitable human error."

In this case, they tried to make them the same, but error crept in, so I would say they are imperfect copies. This implies that there are detectable differences, and it is those differences that matter.

"Her lack of resources meant that her outfits were word of the ones she saw in fashion magazines."

Here we want to get across that the outfits are an attempt to copy the originals but with less investment of time, effort or expense, and lack authenticity. So, I would say they are imitations. This carries both senses of "a result or product of imitating" and "a counterfeit; copy".

"The unicode characters '05AD' and '0596' are word"

In this case, they are logically different, but with similar appearance, so I would say they are deceptively similar. Here, the logical difference is what is important, and the similarity causes confusion.

Answer 4

• lookalikes
• facsimile
• clones

Your first examples are derivative works, inferior copies, but en-dash and em-dash are not accidentally different, there is not an original-vs-copy relationship there.

Answer 5

Ersatz - "made or used as a substitute, typically inferior to the thing copied"

Doesn't really work for any of your examples but the first one as phrased, but I think it might serve your purposes in some cases.

In response to the first comment: the definition I originally provided was simply from memory. Here is the Oxford Online definition:

1 (Of a product) made or used as a substitute, typically an inferior one, for something else: 'ersatz coffee'

Answer 6

If you want to emphasize the likeness, then you might say dead ringer:

a person or thing that closely resembles another

If, however, you want to emphasize the abberance, then you might say a knock off:

A copy or close imitation

In the context of your original phrasings, we have:

• "The copies of texts transcribed by the monks were usually knock offs because of inevitable human error."
• "Her lack of resources meant that her outfits were knock offs of the ones she saw in fashion magazines."
• "The unicode characters '05AD' and '0596' are dead ringers."

Answer 7

Considering all of your example phrases, I think the best choice would be “approximate.”

almost correct or exact : close in value or amount but not precise

Unlike some other words I initially tried (“undifferentiated”, “indistinguishable”), “approximate” doesn't seem to have as much connotation — positive or negative — inherent to the word itself.

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Used in context of the examples:

The unicode characters 05AD ( ֭) and 0596 ( ֖) are approximate.

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The copies of texts transcribed by the monks were approximate because of inevitable human error.

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Her lack of resources meant that her outfits were approximate to the ones she saw in fashion magazines.

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Taking it a step further

Additionally, you could shift the connotation or play/tighten up the ambiguity in the example sentences by changing small things. For example:

Her lack of resources meant that her outfits were only approximate to the ones she saw in fashion magazines.

Versus

Her lack of resources meant that her outfits were only, though quite, approximate to the ones she saw in fashion magazines.

Anyway, this answer is long enough. I think "approximate" works for your intended uses and provides a great deal of flexibility.

Answer 8

There are some good words suggested here, but I think for the specific case you describe, I would go with "less than accurate", or in single-word form, inaccurate. Though it spans multiple words, I think the phrase "less than accurate" is superior because it implies that it is close, but not quite right.

Answer 9

Faux

Definition:

artificial or imitation.

Use in a sentence:

Jimmy Fallon put his SNL skills to use while impersonating Weiner in a faux press conference.

Source: dictionary.com

Answer 10

resembles or "only resembles"

The example sentences have different structures so there is no one solution for them all, but I think they could all be reformed to use forms of resemble with very good fidelity to the intent.

to be like or similar to; to possess some similarity to;

Answer 11

degraded seems to cover your word.

reduced in quality or value; debased; vulgarized: the degraded level of the modern novel.

Original source: Random House Unabridged Dictionary.

Answer 12

A counterfeit :D

a fraudulent imitation of something else.

Source: Oxford Dictionaries.

Answer 13

I think that you’d explain the concept better accosting two words. For example lookalike replica. The word replica implies that the object is derived and shares most details with the original, the word lookalike would explain that the replica looks like the original, implying that it is not the same (otherwise the use of lookalike, a word that isn’t very common, wouldn’t be necessary).

If forced to use just one word, I would use lookalike (as stated previously by several people) or possibly use simile, which is actually the name of a figure of speech but that I think conveys the idea rather effectively (also it’s effective because it evokes the idea of something similar but the use of that word instead of the more common versions conveys meaning just like lookalike).

In general however I would aim to find different words to use in each situation according to the context, the intent of the person creating the replica in question and what you aim to transmit. You could describe much more with two words than just an adjective.

For example:

• An honest error while copying could be an incorrect copy.
• An ineffective tool similar to another would be a faulty replica.

In the examples you presented I would use:

The copies of texts transcribed by the monks were usually faulty because of inevitable human error.

Because faulty describes not the copies as a substantive but the action of copying so actually I’m using the adjective creatively by playing on that. Otherwise I would use tainted because usually in philology you consider the trickle of the copies from a source to what we have now (see Q source named after Quelle which literally means water source in German). Now that I think about it, imprecise also nails it quite nicely and by Occam’s razor could be the best choice.

Her lack of resources meant that her outfits were rip-offs of the ones she saw in fashion magazines.

Because the subject here is trying to copy, but I think the tone intended is derogatory (which is transmitted to me by the base idea that the copies contain errors). Also the word is often used in regards to design and outfits. In the opposite case I would be fine using copies/imitations or even just inspired/closely inspired if we want to express a certain legitimacy and appreciation in her action of copying the designs she observed (relying on the first part of the phrase to make the reader understand that her intention was to get a copy but she couldn’t to the original and not a novel creation).

The unicode characters '05AD' and '0596' are similar.

In this case similar works just fine. Other options could be confusable (maybe it’s me, but it sounds terrible) or easily confused or even easy to exchange by error. Of course the latter two are most effective if you’re speaking about the risk of committing errors due to their similarity. Similar here is the neutral choice, but the context is useful for picking the right word.

Answer 14

Reading this post i just have realized how and why they say that Greek is the mother of all languages and the only one that computers can understand. So if one uses in Greek the prefix apo=from and mimisis=copy / made duplicate then one has the answer. APOMIMISIS = exact copy of something (could be used from gestures to acting or even for any material or design). It means actually intentional near exact copy but not original (mimic from).