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Evidence of ersatz in English dates to the middle of the 19th century, but the word didn’t come into prominence until World War I. Borrowed from German, where Ersatz is a noun meaning "substitute," the word was frequently applied as an adjective to modify terms like coffee (made from acorns) and flour (made from potatoes)—ersatz products necessitated by the privations of war. By the time World War II came around, bringing with it a resurgence of ersatz products, ersatz was wholly entrenched in the language. Today, ersatz describes any substitute or imitation, especially when it’s inferior to the original.
Examples of ersatz in a Sentence
Jim Gorzelany, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025
The thinness also means that fingers are cramped too closely together, hovering over each Joy-Con's shoulder buttons and triggers as ersatz left and right mouse buttons but lacking enough clearance to use either properly.
—Matt Kamen, Wired News, 20 Apr. 2025
Local and federal preservation standards also generally discourage replicas of historic buildings as ersatz preservation.
—Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 23 Mar. 2025
Local and federal preservation standards also generally discourage replicas of historic buildings as ersatz preservation.
—Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 23 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Ersatz.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ersatz. Accessed 28 May. 2025.
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