supplanter

American  

[suh-plan-ter, -plahn‐] / səˈplæn tər, -ˈplɑn‐ /

noun

1. someone or something taking the place of another, as through force, scheming, strategy, or the like.

   The railways were extolled in art and literature on a scale of imagination and power which the steam train's unromantic supplanter, the automobile, wholly failed to inspire.

---

Etymology

Origin of supplanter

First recorded in 1350–1400; supplant ( def. ) + -er ¹ ( def. )

Explanation

A supplanter takes over or takes the place of someone else, usually on purpose. If usurping thrones is your thing, then maybe you have a future as a supplanter. A supplanter takes the place of someone or something that was there first. For example, a new big-name donut shop may become a supplanter if it hurts or ruins the business of the local Mom and Pop donut shop. Supplanter often refers to governments and rulers of countries, and it comes from the verb supplant, which evolved from the Latin supplantare, meaning "to trip up or to overthrow."

Example Sentences

Jacob was a popular boy’s name in Old Testament times, and meant "the one who grasps," "the angler," "the deceiver" or "the supplanter."

From Fox News • Mar. 20, 2022

The station was killed off by the proximity of Holborn, more popular because it was an interchange, and I'm pleased to see its supplanter at least has the grace to recognise its phantom existence.

From The Guardian • Jan. 9, 2013

Why, the BBC Trust, more systemically censorious supplanter of the old board of governors – which nevertheless retains the right to criticise or even fire the man they hired.

From The Guardian • Aug. 28, 2010

Hergesheimer appears in the paper covers of Tauchnitz or his supplanter, beloved of globe-trotters�Three Soldiers is seen Teutonified to Drei Soldaten�Theodore Dreiser's Twelve Men makes a Gallic bow as Douse Hommes.

From Time Magazine Archive

The loss of an affianced bride, followed by hatred between supplanted and supplanter, who were father and son, then the increasing infirmity of the slighted prince, and finally the almost simultaneous deaths of the pair.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 3 "Capefigue" to "Carneades" by Various

Related Words

• backup
• replacement
• stand-in
• surrogate