verb
Related Words
See replace.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of supplant
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English supplanten, from Latin supplantāre “to trip up, overthrow”; see sup-, plant
Explanation
Kate was out sick for a whole month, and when she came back to school, Jessie had supplanted her as the funny girl at the lunch table. Supplant means "to take the place of." Being supplanted is something that often happens to ideas or ways of thinking. Encouraging children's freedom has supplanted old ideas about children being better seen than heard. After a shocking upset at Wimbledon, a new tennis player has supplanted the reigning champion.
Vocabulary lists containing supplant
The Tempest
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"Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell
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This Week in Words: January 5 - 11, 2019
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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.
The company fell further behind Anthropic, whose recent advancements stirred fresh fears that AI could supplant traditional software and services, briefly triggering a stock-market selloff.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
“This assistance does not supplant the judicial officer’s independent role in decision-making.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026
George Furbank was expected to come in at full-back, but instead Marcus Smith and Elliot Daly are thought to be in the running to supplant Freddie Steward.
From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026
Others raised concerns that the Board of Peace is a U.S. effort to supplant the U.N.—a charge that administration officials deny.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026
It does not occur to him that they might supplant them.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
