substitute
Americannoun
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a person or thing acting or serving in place of another.
- Synonyms:
- equivalent, replacement, alternative
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(formerly) a person who, for payment, served in an army or navy in the place of a conscript.
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Grammar. a word that functions as a replacement for any member of a class of words or constructions, as do in He doesn't know but I do.
verb (used with object)
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to put (a person or thing) in the place of another.
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to take the place of; replace.
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Chemistry. to replace (one or more elements or groups in a compound) by other elements or groups.
verb (used without object)
adjective
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of or relating to a substitute or substitutes.
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composed of substitutes.
verb
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(often foll by for) to serve or cause to serve in place of another person or thing
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chem to replace (an atom or group in a molecule) with (another atom or group)
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logic maths to replace (one expression) by (another) in the context of a third, as replacing x + y for x in 3 x = k gives 3 x + 3 y = k
noun
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a person or thing that serves in place of another, such as a player in a game who takes the place of an injured colleague
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Often shortened to: sub. ( as modifier )
a substitute goalkeeper
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grammar another name for pro-form
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another name for supply teacher
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nautical another word for repeater
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(formerly) a person paid to replace another due for military service
Usage
What does substitute mean? A substitute is someone or something that takes the place of another person or thing. As a verb, to substitute means to make such a switch.Substitute is used in a variety of contexts, but it is perhaps most commonly associated with substitute teachers and players in team sports who replace a player in the game. In both cases, the word is often shortened as sub.Example: Mr. Jones was sick today so we had a substitute.
Other Word Forms
- intersubstitutability noun
- intersubstitutable adjective
- intersubstitution noun
- nonsubstituted adjective
- nonsubstitution noun
- nonsubstitutional adjective
- nonsubstitutionally adverb
- nonsubstitutionary adjective
- presubstitute verb (used with object)
- presubstitution noun
- prosubstitution adjective
- substitutability noun
- substitutable adjective
- substituter noun
- substitutingly adverb
- substitution noun
- substitutional adjective
- substitutionally adverb
- substitutionary adjective
- unsubstituted adjective
Etymology
Origin of substitute
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin substitūtus “replaced,” past participle of substituere “to put in place of,” from sub- sub- + -stituere, combining form of statuere “to set up, erect” ( substituent )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He returned to competitive action with the Jamaica national team with three substitute appearances in June - his only football since the crash.
From BBC
Messi, who was brought on as a half-time substitute, was wrestled to the turf by a spectator with two minutes remaining of normal time.
From BBC
Messi, who came on as a substitute at the start of the second half, scored the winning goal in the 70th minute.
From Barron's
Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan previously introduced an iron based substitute, but that earlier version depended on large quantities of costly chiral ligands.
From Science Daily
Technological advancements always cost some people their jobs—those whose skills can be easily substituted by tech.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
