List of 426 Sets of Synonyms and How they Differ in Meaning -- Total of 2307 Synonymous Words

326

SYNONYMS: replace, supplant, supersede.

These verbs are compared as they mean to turn someone or something out and place another in his, her, or its stead.

To replace is to be or furnish an equivalent or a substitute in the place of another, especially another that has been lost, depleted, worn out, or discharged: I succeed Benjamin Franklin, as envoy to France; no one could replace him.

Supplant often suggests the use of intrigue or underhanded tactics to take another's place: Jones supplanting him in her affections, added another spur to his pursuit. The term does not, however, invariably have this connotation: The steam engine began to supplant the muscular power of men and animals.

To supersede is to replace one person or thing by another held to be superior, more valuable or useful or less antiquated: In our island the Latin appears never to have superseded the old Gaelic speech.