1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

designated hitters

noun

plural of designated hitter
as in replacements
a person or thing that takes the place of another you'll have to be my designated hitter in the office while I'm on business trips

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for designated hitters
  1. replacements
  2. substitutes
Noun
  • Following the 2013 season — Joe Mauer’s final full year as a catcher before shifting to first base — the Twins have relied on a cavalcade of replacements, from Kurt Suzuki to Gary Sanchez to Ryan Jeffers to be their backstop.
    — Jayson Stark, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Over the summer, CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss blew up the storied institution by firing its executive producer and key correspondents and bringing in far less experienced replacements, including several right-leaning opinion journalists.
    — Josef Adalian, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of replacements
Noun
  • In six states, Medicare beneficiaries must get preapproval for a few treatments that CMS considers to have little clinical benefit and to be susceptible to fraud or waste, including skin substitutes and knee arthroscopy for arthritis.
    — Stephanie Armour, Miami Herald, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Individual households may find ways to drive less when gas prices are high, for example, but there’s fewer immediate substitutes for networks that rely on diesel to help produce and haul goods worldwide.
    — Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Fortune, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of substitutes
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

designated hitter
designated hitters
designates
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Designated hitters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/designated%20hitters. Accessed 17 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of watershed

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All