In the 1970s, many people dismissed the Japanese as mere imitators and failed to see how the knowledge gained from copying would lead to path-breaking technologies.

This Russianness of mindset ensured that Tchaikovsky would not become a mere imitator of Western technique.

But he was no mere imitator of received form, whether natural or artificial.

But Sweelinck was no mere imitator, as one sees from his masterly variations on 'Mein junges Leben hat ein Endt'.

Rather than become a mere imitator of the great man, he chose instead a pedantic teacher, Dr C. H. Kitson.

I am a mere imitator of noble form--I am a sculptress.

The Hegelians were not mere imitators of their teacher, but creative thinkers about modernity and its problems, especially social cohesion and the conflict of individual interests.

He was essentially classic in feeling and aim, but here his habit of observation enabled him to snatch a grace beyond the reach of a mere imitator.

Some Tajik poets were mere imitators, and one can easily see the traits of foreign poets in their work.

In reviving the glories of the Achaemenian past, the Sassanids were no mere imitators.