1
: someone employed to occupy an actor's place while lights and camera are readied
2
stood in; standing in; stands in
: to act as a stand-in
see also:
Examples of stand-in in a Sentence
Noun
hired him at the last minute as a stand-in for the person who quit
Verb
she will be standing in for the regular teacher for a week
Recent Examples on the Web
Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2026
Similarly, Early’s dissolute failson feels less like a self-portrait than like a darkly comic deflection, a gargoyle-ish stand-in for his creator’s anxieties.
—Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2026
Jon Krawczynski, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2026
Today modern science and astrology stand in stark contrast to each other.
—Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 8 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stand-in
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Noun
One man, first invited to serve as a stand-in for the narrator’s father, was asked instead to play the boy.
—Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2026
Similarly, Early’s dissolute failson feels less like a self-portrait than like a darkly comic deflection, a gargoyle-ish stand-in for his creator’s anxieties.
—Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2026
Verb
Potentially most importantly, Bane was coming from the Memphis Grizzlies, who made a name for themselves by not backing down to anyone who stood in front of them.
—Jon Krawczynski, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2026
Today modern science and astrology stand in stark contrast to each other.
—Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 8 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stand-in
Cite this Entry
“Stand-in.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stand-in. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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