Resembling an automaton; moving or acting in a mechanical, robotic, or repetitive way without showing feeling or awareness.
From 'automaton' (a mechanical figure) + '-like' (resembling). 'Automaton' comes from Greek 'autos' (self) + 'matos' (moving), literally a self-moving thing. The '-like' suffix is Old English in origin, combining into countless descriptive adjectives.
When people describe someone as 'automatonlike,' they're comparing them to mechanical beings, which is why sci-fi authors from Isaac Asimov onward explore what happens when automata become so human-like that we can't tell the difference anymore—a question science is actually approaching in 2024.
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