substitute
Pluralsubstitutes
Verbsubstitutes, substituting, substituted
Pluralsubstitutes
Formssubstitutes, substituting, substituted
- 1A person or thing that takes the place of another, filling the same role or producing much the same result.
Like an understudy stepping into the lead role when the star falls ill.
Margarine is a common substitute for butter in baking.
There is no real substitute for years of hands-on experience.
Similarsurrogate
Note
The noun usually takes for and the thing it stands in for: De Quincey calls masks the sole substitute for the parasol. It often implies second best, as in Smokey Robinson's "The Tracks of My Tears" (1965), where the singer dismisses a new partner as a mere stand-in. Advertising turns that around in the formula accept no substitutes, which Tarantino's Jackie Brown (1997) gives a menacing edge. Surrogate is the close synonym.
- 2To use one thing in place of another that serves the same function.
Cooks often substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream.
He substituted a cheaper material for the expensive alloy.
Note
Latin built the word from sub-, "under", and statuere, "to put up, establish": to set one thing up in another's place. In this general use the object is the newcomer. You substitute onion when the shallots run out, and the thing displaced can go unmentioned. Once both things are named, the preposition decides which is which, as the "X for Y" pattern shows.
- 3To take over the role of someone or something as a replacement; to fill in.
When the regular host fell ill, a colleague substituted for the evening.
I'm happy to substitute whenever the team is short-handed.
Note
Without an object, the verb describes the stand-in's own role and usually names the absent party with for: a colleague substitutes for the host. James Tobin's Essays in Economics (1987) applies it to abstractions, with one route to wealth substituting for personal saving, so it is not limited to people. In the transitive "X for Y" pattern, by contrast, someone else does the swapping.
- 4To use one thing in place of another.
You can substitute frozen berries for fresh ones in this jam.
The mechanic substituted a generic part for the original.
Note
The traditional pattern puts the newcomer first, as in substitute new parts for the old ones. For marks what is being displaced, just as it does in exchange one thing for another. Swap the preposition for with or by and you get the "replace X with Y" pattern, where the object switches roles. Check the preposition before deciding which part ended up in the machine.
- 5A teacher brought in to take charge of a class when the regular teacher is absent.
The substitute struggled to follow the lesson plan left for her.
Schools keep a list of substitutes they can call in at short notice.
- 6A player kept available to replace a teammate during a match, who may or may not actually play.
Like an understudy in the wings, waiting for the cue to step on stage.
A substitute scored the equalizer minutes after coming on.
The manager named three substitutes on the bench for the final.
Similarreserve, replacement
Oppositestarter
Note
Match reports often use the noun like a title, placed before a name with no article: substitute Peter Crouch sealed the win, in David Ornstein's 2011 BBC Sport report. The label sticks even after the player comes on and scores. It describes how the player entered the game, not whether they sat out. The act of taking someone off belongs to the sporting verb.
- 7To take a player off the field and bring on another in their place.
The manager substituted his captain with twenty minutes left to play.
Coaches often substitute tired forwards to keep the attack fresh.
Similarreplace
Note
Sports reporting uses the verb for the player leaving, not the one arriving, and it is most at home in the passive: he was substituted after twenty minutes. Phil McNulty's 2011 BBC Sport report shows the indignity at its sharpest, with a replacement who was himself substituted as time ran out. The player coming on is the bench player.
- 8To replace one thing with another, using the second in place of the first.
Many bakers substitute the white flour with whole wheat for a denser loaf.
The editor substituted the vague phrase with a precise one.
Note
Here the object is the thing taken out, not the thing put in: substitute old parts with new ones means the old parts go. Usage guides once condemned this construction, largely because it reverses the roles of the for pattern. It is no longer proscribed, but in careful writing replace X with Y says the same thing and cannot be misread.
- 9Abbreviation of substitute good.
If the price of gas rises, demand for its substitutes tends to climb.
Economists model how readily one good acts as a substitute for another.
Note
Economists shorten substitute good to plain substitute, and the technical meaning is narrower than the everyday one. Two goods are substitutes when consumers see them as similar, so that demand for one falls as the other gains. What counts is the buyer's perception, not physical likeness. The plural is substitutes, as in the noun's other uses.
- 10A person who enlisted for military service in place of a man who had been conscripted.
His father found a substitute to take his place in the regiment.
The price of substitutes rose steeply as casualties mounted.
Similarreplacement
Note
A word from the era of conscription, when a man called up could send another to serve in his place. It belongs to historical writing about drafts and armies, not to modern military service. In those histories the substitute is the man who actually went, and the conscript is the man who stayed home.
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Practice
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Origin
From Middle English substituten, from Latin substitutus, the past participle of substituō, which combines sub- ("under, beneath") with statuō ("to put up, establish").