supersede
Americanverb (used with object)
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supersedes,
present (3rd person singular)
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superseded,
past participle, past
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superseding
present participle
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to replace in power, authority, effectiveness, acceptance, use, etc., as by another person or thing.
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to set aside or cause to be set aside as void, useless, irrelevant, or obsolete, usually in consideration of something mentioned.
The success of the vaccine superseded the necessity of a smallpox hospital, and the enterprise was abandoned almost as soon as conceived.
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to succeed to the position, function, office, etc., of; supplant.
verb
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to take the place of (something old-fashioned or less appropriate); supplant
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to replace in function, office, etc; succeed
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to discard or set aside or cause to be set aside as obsolete or inferior
Synonym Usage
See replace.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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supersedencenoun
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supersedernoun
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supersedurenoun
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supersessionnoun
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supersedableadjective
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unsupersedingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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supersedesimple
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supersedessimple
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have supersededperfect
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has supersededperfect
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am supersedingprogressive
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are supersedingprogressive
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is supersedingprogressive
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have been supersedingperfect progressive
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has been supersedingperfect progressive
Past
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supersededsimple
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had supersededperfect
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was supersedingprogressive
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were supersedingprogressive
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had been supersedingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of supersede
First recorded in 1485–95; from Latin supersedēre “to sit above or upon, forbear,” equivalent to super- super- + sedēre “to sit”; see sit 1
Explanation
When something supersedes, it takes the place of something else. The 5th edition of your history textbook supersedes the 4th edition. Most words that include super have something good going on. Supersede is from the 16th-century Latin for "sit on top," and it often means to replace with something better. A version 10 of a computer game will supersede, version 9, making it more exciting. Unfortunately, a person might be replaced too, as in "the younger running back will supersede the veteran player as he gets older." To supersede is generally a good thing, but being superseded is not always that great for the replaced person.
Vocabulary lists containing supersede
Grade 10, List 1
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ASVAB Word Knowledge
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Power Prefix: super-
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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.
See Examples For:
But the new structure will supersede the "extremely narrow" rail-and-road Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge downstream on the Yalu River, said Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
Human judgment is going to supersede human expertise.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
A mistake many people make, Bobby says, is thinking that really, really liking someone should supersede whatever challenges they might face.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
Department of Energy invoked the Defense Production Act to supersede state laws, following months of clashes between Sable and state regulators.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Her esteemed position in the community, with the church, and as someone who could speak almost unaccented English seemed to supersede her position as a woman.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
The indictment supersedes a previous indictment of Singamas Marketing Director Vick Nam Hing Ma, who was arrested in France last month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
Grandi argues that the logic behind “survival, not indulgence” supersedes any emotional connections tied to the food.
From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2026
A lot of these guys, when they get into the corporate world, their nest egg becomes so solid that their fear of losing that supersedes them being sharper onstage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2025
Like all service members, he has an obligation to the Constitution and the rule of law that supersedes following the orders of superiors.
From Slate ● Jan. 15, 2025
An assertion is negatived when it totally contradicts the fact of the opponent without supplying another fact, which supersedes the first fact.
From The Student-Life of Germany by William Howitt
Parton was an icon whose music, philanthropy and authenticity superseded genre, class, sexuality, color and politics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Liggett Group LLC, where the court agreed in part with the tobacco industry that the congressionally mandated surgeon general’s warning about cigarettes already superseded any state-based failure-to-warn claim.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
Under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Tokyo has doubled down on government support for semiconductor technology, an industry Japan used to lead before being superseded by rivals such as Taiwan and South Korea.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026
"The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal, but we've superseded it by a lot," Trump said at Mar-a-Lago.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2026
Donovan broke in tensely, “What was the first order...the one that was superseded by the marching directions?”
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
None of these proposals grapple with the full weight of how different our new era will be from the relatively placid one it is superseding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Pogacar's victory means he is positioned by many as the greatest cyclist of all time, superseding the achievements and status of Belgian legend Merckx.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Two unidentified sportsbooks were named as victims of the alleged conspiracy in the original indictment, and the superseding indictment names the NBA and the Hornets as additional victims.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
The plasticity of digital information is superseding earlier modes of expression and expertise, as the printing press did the scribe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
In an age when names sat much more lightly than they do now, one might fancy such a word superseding a woman's original name.
From Surnames as a Science by Robert Ferguson
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