the place of a person or thing as occupied by a successor or substitute.
The nephew of the queen came in her stead.
Obsolete. a place or locality.
rare (preceded by in) the place, function, or position that should be taken by another
to come in someone's stead
to be useful or of good service to (someone)
before 900; (noun) Middle English, Old English stede; cognate with German Stätte place; akin to German Stadt, Old Norse stathr, Gothic staths, Greek stásis ( see stasis); (v.) Middle English steden, derivative of the noun
Someone's stead is their position, or occupation. The eager understudy to starring role leapt at the chance to serve in the lead actor's stead when he mysteriously got food poisoning. Stead comes from the Germanic root for "place, town," but we usually use it for a person's place, and most frequently when someone is serving as a substitute. If you serve in someone's stead, you're doing their job for them while they're not there. You probably intuitively know this word from the more common instead, which is just a shortening for "in the stead of."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Instead, President Trump appeared in his stead, where he said the senator had been “like a member of the family.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
Bruce Broussard, a member of the company’s board of directors since 2021, has been acting as interim CEO in his stead.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
It suggests, if I may be so bold, an upbeat and calm frame of mind that will stand you in good stead during this process.
From MarketWatch ● May 21, 2026
Some of them were dead, and their families answered the questionnaires about past glyphosate exposure in their stead.
From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2026
Where “chivalry” entered into this, he thought ruefully, he was not entirely sure, unless it counted as chivalrous that he was not calling for Hermione to do it in his stead.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
Coaches Martin Drury and Jon Stead took over until the close of the campaign, as Huddersfield finished ninth.
From BBC ● May 11, 2026
Neal Stead and his wife Tara both work in administration – Neal in a contact centre, and Tara at a hospital.
From BBC ● Nov. 24, 2025
Westlake 5, Agoura 2: Noah Stead hit a two-run home run, his 13th in high school baseball, to lead the Warriors.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2025
Westlake 4, Newbury Park 1: Noah Stead hit a walk-off three-run home run in the seventh inning for Westlake.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2025
Mr. Stead tipped his hat and said good-bye.
From "I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912" by Lauren Tarshis
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.
