ersatz

[er-zahts, -sahts, er-zahts, -sahts]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ersatz ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

serving as a substitute; synthetic; artificial: an ersatz coffee made from grain.

noun

an artificial substance or article used to replace something natural or genuine; a substitute.

Origin of ersatz

1870–75; < German Ersatz a substitute (derivative of ersetzen to replace)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for ersatz

synthetic, phony, imitation, fake, sham, substitute, counterfeit, bogus, manufactured, pretended, simulated, spurious, copied, false

Examples from the Web for ersatz

Contemporary Examples of ersatz

They were done to give a thin patina of ersatz legitimacy to what is otherwise flagrant sexual assault.
‘Rectal Feeding’ Has Nothing to Do with Nutrition, Everything to Do with Torture
Russell Saunders
December 10, 2014
An elderly couple dances under flashing lights in an ersatz disco club.
Inside Japan's 30,000 Kinky ‘Love Hotels’
Lizzie Crocker
August 4, 2014
Our hopes have gotten so cheesy that even the cheese is ersatz.
Tina Brown: Why Kim Kardashian Isn’t ‘Aspirational'
Tina Brown
April 1, 2014
Plus, the song is catchy and rich with emotion which, although it may be ersatz, is pop perfection.
One Direction, Harry Styles and the Princess Diana Connection
Tom Sykes
September 22, 2013
Unfortunately, the admissions system seems to be primarily geared towards fake sincerity and ersatz enrichment.
The Absurd Lies of College Admissions
Megan McArdle
April 1, 2013

Historical Examples of ersatz

This ersatz ranch-house was owned by two completely unlovelies.
Vigorish
Gordon Randall Garrett
He slid into his chair and reached automatically for the ersatz grapefruit.
Tony and the Beetles
Philip K. Dick
We had long been ridiculing the Germans for their ersatz ingenuity.
Paris Vistas
Helen Davenport Gibbons
It is the same difference as that between the ersatz and the authentic.
An Autobiography
Igor Stravinsky
The brass fittings were still in place, and there were no signs of ersatz towels, sheets, or even lace curtains.
To Kiel in the 'Hercules'
Lewis R. Freeman

British Dictionary definitions for ersatz

ersatz

adjective

made in imitation of some natural or genuine product; artificial

noun

an ersatz substance or article

Word Origin for ersatz

C20: German, from ersetzen to substitute

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ersatz

adj.

1875, from German Ersatz "units of the army reserve," literally "compensation, replacement, substitute," from ersetzen "to replace," from Old High German irsezzen, from ir-, unaccented variant of ur- + setzen "to set" (see set (v.)). As a noun, from 1892.