simulated

1. 1
   adjective

   Made in imitation of a particular thing or condition; artificial rather than genuine.

   Astronauts practice spacewalks in a simulated weightless environment underwater.

   The display used a simulated wood grain that looked convincing from a distance.

   Similarartificial, fake, mock, faux

   Oppositereal, genuine, authentic

   Note

   An adjective with no degrees: a surface is simulated or it is not, so more simulated and most simulated are not used. It usually sits before the noun, as in a simulated environment or simulated wood grain. It names the finished copy rather than the act of copying that the past-tense verb describes.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of simulate.

   Researchers simulated the spread of the disease across the city.

   The team has simulated thousands of possible outcomes before the launch.

   Note

   A regular -ed form doing two grammatical jobs. As a simple past it stands alone (they simulated the launch). As a past participle it follows have in perfect tenses and be in the passive (the launch was simulated). The verb behind it means to model or replicate. Simulate itself once served as an adjective meaning "feigned; pretended," a use now obsolete. Today the adjective "artificial" does the adjectival work.

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