substitute
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To use in place of something else, with the same function.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
suhbstuhtootSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsʌbstətut
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To use in place of something else, with the same function.
(transitive, formerly proscribed, in the phrase "substitute X with/by Y") To use Y in place of X; to replace X with Y.
“The young teacher had to substitute for the sick colleague.”
intransitive
To serve as a replacement (for someone or something).
Put in the place of another; switch seemingly equivalent items
noun
A replacement or stand-in for something that achieves a similar result or purpose.
A substitute teacher.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To use in place of something else, with the same function.
Used this way, substitute is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- sub , more casual, better suited to speech than writing
- deputize , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use substitute
- “The young teacher had to substitute for the sick colleague.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Working as a substitute for someone who is ill or on leave of absence.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A drink resembling coffee that is sometimes substituted for it.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
An event in which one thing is substituted for another.
The class of all items that can be substituted into the same position (or slot) in a grammatical sentence (are in paradigmatic relation with one another).
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.