supersede
Americanverb (used with object)
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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The success of the vaccine superseded the necessity of a smallpox hospital, and the enterprise was abandoned almost as soon as conceived.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:
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
Quantum computers will not supersede existing machines, as there are many tasks they are not suited to.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
But the US actions will "supersede" the Canadian case, Wednesday's statement said.
From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026
Those laws often allow the state’s housing agenda to supersede preferences of the municipality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 18, 2026
Faction customs dictate even idle behavior and supersede individual preference.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
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
County counsel Dawyn R. Harrison told the supervisors the ordinance “would most likely be challenged on the supremacy clause,” which holds that federal law supersedes state and local law.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2025
But his legacy in our sport supersedes his results.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2025
But it passes in silence, as is meet for a moralizing philistine, that the practice silently but without compunction supersedes these barriers sanctioned officially by society.
From The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Engels, Friedrich
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
The fund superseded the Household Support Fund which was set up in response to the cost of living crisis, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
Our yearning to forget is superseded by our desire to understand why things are the way they are.
From Salon ● May 25, 2026
Equity wealth has superseded incomes from employment as the driver of spending, he says.
From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026
At the one extreme, the Tasmanians continued to use stone tools superseded tens of thousands of years earlier in Europe and replaced in most of mainland Australia too.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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
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
Sassoon, who penned a remarkable letter of her own, said she had planned to file a superseding indictment against the mayor, adding on additional charges for conspiracy to obstruct justice.
From Slate ● Feb. 15, 2025
The superseding document amends and replaces the original indictment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2024
The uppermost is Dalmarnock Bridge, dating from 1891, and next below it is Rutherglen Bridge, rebuilt in 1896, and superseding a structure of 1775.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 1 "Gichtel, Johann" to "Glory" by Various
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.
