verb
Related Words
See replace.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of supplant
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English supplanten, from Latin supplantāre “to trip up, overthrow”; see sup-, plant
Explanation
Kate was out sick for a whole month, and when she came back to school, Jessie had supplanted her as the funny girl at the lunch table. Supplant means "to take the place of." Being supplanted is something that often happens to ideas or ways of thinking. Encouraging children's freedom has supplanted old ideas about children being better seen than heard. After a shocking upset at Wimbledon, a new tennis player has supplanted the reigning champion.
Vocabulary lists containing supplant
The Tempest
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"Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell
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This Week in Words: January 5 - 11, 2019
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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.
“This assistance does not supplant the judicial officer’s independent role in decision-making.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026
The gains validate a bold bet by Charter Chief Executive Chris Winfrey: that cable could survive, if no longer thrive, by embracing the apps that had begun to supplant the traditional TV bundle.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026
Injury then gave Marcus Smith the chance to supplant Ford in the pecking order on the 2024 tour of New Zealand, before Fin Smith emerged in last year's Six Nations.
From BBC • Feb. 11, 2026
He wrote that Genie “cannot supplant end‑to‑end game production,” and the “AI-driven selloff creates enhanced buying opportunity.”
From Barron's • Feb. 4, 2026
Intensive postwar lobbying by truck manufacturers and armies finally convinced the public of its own needs and enabled trucks to begin to supplant horse-drawn wagons in industrialized countries.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
