Thesaurus results for SUBSTITUTES

substitutes 1 of 2

noun

plural of substitute

as in replacements

a person or thing that takes the place of another you'll be getting a substitute until your regular teacher is feeling better if you like, you can use nuts as a substitute for coconut in that recipe

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

substitutes

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of substitute

as in swaps

to give up (something) and take something else in return can I substitute coleslaw for potato salad if I order the chicken plate?

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in spells

to serve as a replacement usually for a time only substituting for the talk show host while she is on vacation

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in replaces

to take the place of "John Doe," "Jane Doe," and "Baby Doe" substituted the real names of the parties involved to preserve their privacy

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of substitutes

Noun

Only Anthropic knows for sure how often users rely on Claude to generate substitutes for musicians’ songs, the lawsuit said. — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 31 Aug. 2026 Europe Is Building Two Digital Money Models The digital euro and EURR should not necessarily be viewed as direct substitutes. — Sean Stein Smith, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2026 Venomous boos greeted the announcement of his name among the Chelsea substitutes ahead of kick-off. — Liam Twomey, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026 Importantly, these technologies aren't necessarily substitutes for one another. — Alexa Lomonaco, CNBC, 21 Aug. 2026 Here are our Test Kitchen substitutes for heavy cream, including dairy-free options. — Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Aug. 2026 Faasse and Miljana Ivanovic entered as substitutes in the 61st minute, and 18 minutes later, Faasse added the Dash’s fourth goal, becoming the third rookie to score in the match for Houston (7-8-5). — ABC News, 19 Aug. 2026 Some of it starts with the social media substitutes and the smartphones that feel comfortable in our hands the way books used to feel. — Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 15 Aug. 2026 These systems are the most futuristic pieces of the renovation, but Korem presents them as additions to a much larger recovery program—not substitutes for foundational work. — Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 11 Aug. 2026

Verb

This approach substitutes information for sensation, and reduces both human and supra-human experiences to the level of data. — Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 20 July 2026 So Tuchel, who always substitutes his wingers after roughly an hour, decided to withdraw Gordon and bring on an extra defender, Ezri Konsa. — Michael Cox, New York Times, 16 July 2026 Another way to say this is that, in place of the extensive self-announcements Plato allows his characters, Rochester substitutes his own summary judgements, his sarcastic imitations. — Literary Hub, 6 July 2026 Finally, because Helms-Burton gave presidents power to block these suits, the majority concluded that this mechanism substitutes for the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act rather than coexisting with it. — Manuel A. Gómez, The Conversation, 25 June 2026 No program substitutes for that. — Desmon Yancy, Chicago Tribune, 2 June 2026 It is offered as rationale for below-market compensation, as though mission alignment is a form of currency that substitutes for pay. — Charles Stanton, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026 The brand partially substitutes sugar with stevia and erythritol. — Christopher Edwards, PEOPLE, 12 May 2026 The Landmark leans into organic design with decorative wood trim work and a palette of whites, browns and soft beige, while the Marisol substitutes the traditional colors of Mediterranean design for modern white, soft gray and taupe. — Pulte Homes, Miami Herald, 11 May 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for substitutes

Noun

Non-stars say the number of jobs has plummeted and that they are being tricked into training their replacements.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026
Compare service call fees, per-claim caps and annual aggregate limits to the cost of repairs and replacements in your area.

— Alora Bopray, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of replacements

Verb

The conference swaps out Texas State for Louisiana Tech this year.

— Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026
The closest mainstream offering is Honda's Rebel 1100 DCT, which starts at around US$10,400 – and even that swaps the traditional V-twin for a parallel-twin engine.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 9 Aug. 2026

Definition of swaps

Verb

While solar roofs are not new, Hongqi’s approach replaces conventional crystalline silicon cells with thin and flexible perovskite photovoltaic materials.

— Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026
The indictment replaces the original charges filed against Mays in 2024.

— Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of replaces

Verb

Consistency turns individual relationships into a community that exchanges honest advice, surfaces opportunities and helps its members navigate growth.

— C200, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
Thomas regularly exchanges texts and Instagram messages with Alex’s mother, Leah, in Perth, while enjoying the company of his father, Damien, a former Australian rules football player, when the Condons travel stateside.

— Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 26 June 2026

Definition of exchanges

Verb

Based on FactSet’s definition of second-quarter reporting, which covers companies with fiscal quarters ending in May, June, or July, Nvidia and Micron are projected to be the largest contributors to the S&P 500′s overall profit growth.

— , CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
The Netflix series covers the same timespan as A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, though presumably with less doo-wop.

— Bethy Squires, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of covers

Verb

Genesis also argued that the county lacked authority to revoke the permits because federal law supersedes local regulations.

— Adam Thompson, CBS News, 26 Aug. 2026
The real fix to this situation is to enact a federal framework that supersedes the state-by-state patchwork of regulations on autonomous vehicles.

— Mark Dalton, Oc Register, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of supersedes

Verb

Scalable Capital is opening its investment platform to AI assistants including ChatGPT, Claude and Grok—giving European investors the ability to analyze portfolios, set up savings plans and place trades through prompts.

— Joshua Hong, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026
Unlike the James Webb Space Telescope, which trades panoramic views for a narrow field of view to peer deeply into small, specific patches of the sky, Roman is built for scale.

— Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of trades

Browse Nearby Words

substituted

substitutes

substituting

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Substitutes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/substitutes. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of substitutes

noun

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

dissonant

Popular in Grammar & Usage

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Popular in Wordplay

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Games & Quizzes