substitute

American  

[suhb-sti-toot, -tyoot] / ˈsʌb stɪˌtut, -ˌtjut /

noun

• substitutes
  plural

1. a person or thing acting or serving in place of another.

   Synonyms:

   equivalent, replacement, alternative

2. (formerly) a person who, for payment, served in an army or navy in the place of a conscript.

3. 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.

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verb (used with object)

• substitutes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• substituted,
  past participle,  past
• substituting
  present participle

1. to put (a person or thing) in the place of another.

2. to take the place of; replace.

3. Chemistry. to replace (one or more elements or groups in a compound) by other elements or groups.

verb (used without object)

• substitutes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• substituted,
  past participle,  past
• substituting
  present participle

1. to act as a substitute.

adjective

1. of or relating to a substitute or substitutes.

2. composed of substitutes.

substitute British  

/ ˈsʌbstɪˌtjuːt /

verb

1. (often foll by for) to serve or cause to serve in place of another person or thing

2. chem to replace (an atom or group in a molecule) with (another atom or group)

3. 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

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noun

1. 1. 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

   2. Often shortened to: sub.  ( as modifier )

      a substitute goalkeeper

2. grammar another name for pro-form

3. another name for supply teacher

4. nautical another word for repeater

5. (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

Derived Forms

• intersubstitutability
  noun
• intersubstitution
  noun
• nonsubstitution
  noun
• presubstitution
  noun
• substitutability
  noun
• substituter
  noun
• substitution
  noun
• presubstitute
  verb (used with object)
• intersubstitutable
  adjective
• nonsubstituted
  adjective
• nonsubstitutional
  adjective
• nonsubstitutionary
  adjective
• prosubstitution
  adjective
• substitutable
  adjective
• substitutional
  adjective
• substitutionary
  adjective
• unsubstituted
  adjective
• nonsubstitutionally
  adverb
• substitutingly
  adverb
• substitutionally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• substitutes
  plural

Participles

• substituting
  present
• substituted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• substitute
  simple
• substitutes
  simple
• have substituted
  perfect
• has substituted
  perfect
• am substituting
  progressive
• are substituting
  progressive
• is substituting
  progressive
• have been substituting
  perfect progressive
• has been substituting
  perfect progressive

Past

• substituted
  simple
• had substituted
  perfect
• was substituting
  progressive
• were substituting
  progressive
• had been substituting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will substitute
  simple
• will have substituted
  perfect
• will be substituting
  progressive
• will have been substituting
  perfect progressive

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” ( see substituent)

Explanation

Something or someone that takes the place of another is said to be a substitute. You may be sent into a game as a substitute for an injured player, or you might substitute chocolate chips for blueberries in a pancake recipe. Substitute can be used as an adjective to describe something or someone that takes the place of another. Teenagers are notoriously hard on substitute teachers, sometimes giving them fake names or wrong information about classroom work. Substitute can also be used as a verb. So if you are asked to substitute for a teacher, you probably shouldn't believe everything the students tell you!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

substitute substitutes substituted substituting

“AI is not a substitute for human creativity,” a Penguin Random House spokesperson said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Boro boss Kim Hellberg urged Lankshear to hurry up, but he took too long and substitute Fin Cartwright was told he could not come on immediately.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Against that backdrop, Mr. Warsh’s tough talk sounded like a substitute for tough action, rather than a signal of future action.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

At least Mainoo did come on as a substitute for Amorim in the Premier League last season.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

I confess that it was my idea to find a substitute.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein

Romeo Lavia came off the bench, with Valentin Barco and Dario Essugo remaining unused substitutes.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

In a world where influencers warn of spiked cortisol levels and disrupted circadian rhythms, plenty of consumers are turning to prebiotic sodas, sugar-free beverages, and refreshers as substitutes.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

New guidelines accompanied a government report citing research that linked sugar substitutes to conditions such as cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

The competitive threat posed by cheaper Chinese substitutes has once again assailed semiconductor stocks, leading to dramatic falls in some of the biggest memory chip makers in Asia on Tuesday.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

Synthetic substitutes for the pyrethrins have recently been developed, and some of the producing countries stand ready to increase the output of the natural product as the market may require.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

A word of warning though, he is often substituted around the 70-80 minute mark.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Its header, though, showed it came from his address, with IRS.GOV substituted.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Kane was only substituted twice, with six minutes left against Panama and one minute remaining in the last-16 tie with Mexico.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

This was the first time he had failed to score at the World Cup and, by the time he was substituted in extra-time, he had failed to register a single shot on target.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

Along the way, someone substituted the Latin ending pi for the Greek podes and came up with the polyglot octopi.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

“Nostalgia is basically substituting what you feel now for what actually happened then, right? I have no nostalgia for childhood summers because nothing happened.”

From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2026

Egypt manager Hossam Hassan even had to speak out before the match to deny any fall out with Salah - after substituting him during the draw with Belgium.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026

In the criminal justice system, jurors are entitled to acquit defendants by deliberately rejecting evidence or refusing to apply the law, often by substituting their own sense of fairness—a concept known as jury nullification.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

Back in 2005, when Roberts rhapsodized about Indiana farmland and an endless horizon punctuated only by silos and barns, he was substituting a humble, real-life Midwest upbringing for his own.

From Slate ● May 7, 2026

Anatole translated this, substituting fufu, goats, and palm wine.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Related Words

• backup
• replacement
• stand-in
• surrogate