placeholder

noun

place·​hold·​er ˈplās-ˌhōl-dər 

plural placeholders

1

: a person or thing that occupies the position or place of another person or thing

The bill would empower the governor to appoint a placeholder to a vacant U.S. Senate seat, to serve through the next general election cycle.

—John Sharp

The result was that the legislation represented little more than a placeholder to put the budget before a conference committee …

—Carl Ingram

2

: a symbol in a mathematical or logical expression that may be replaced by the name of any element of a set

3

American football : a player who places and holds the ball upright on the ground for placekicking of a field goal

Examples of placeholder in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Since December, the National City police chief has also served as interim city manager — the latest placeholder in a search for permanent leadership rapidly approaching its one-year mark. —Walker Armstrong, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Mar. 2026

This colorful first engagement ring, an eternity band featuring rubies and diamonds, is considered by some to be a placeholder for the second ring. —Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 12 Mar. 2026

So that again had Myron Gardner as a placeholder in the starting lineup alongside Adebayo, Herro, Davion Mitchell and Pelle Larsson, with an ease of then rotating in Jaquez, Kel’el Ware, Kasparas Jakucionis and Dru Smith. —Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 8 Mar. 2026

Enough to be more than just a decent placeholder, more than a complicated reintegration. —Jared Weiss, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1927, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for placeholder

• officeholder
• beholder
• bondholder
• cardholder
• freeholder
• householder
• landholder
• leaseholder
• lienholder
• shareholder
• slaveholder
• smallholder

Kids Definition

placeholder

noun

place·​hold·​er ˈplās-ˌhōl-dər 

: a symbol used in mathematics in the place of a numeral not yet known