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as in to replace
to take the place of inefficient methods displaced by newer ones

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Synonym Chooser

How is the word displace distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of displace are replace, supersede, and supplant. While all these words mean "to put out of a usual or proper place or into the place of another," displace implies an ousting or dislodging.

war had displaced thousands

When can replace be used instead of displace?

The synonyms replace and displace are sometimes interchangeable, but replace implies a filling of a place once occupied by something lost, destroyed, or no longer usable or adequate.

replaced the broken window

When is supersede a more appropriate choice than displace?

In some situations, the words supersede and displace are roughly equivalent. However, supersede implies replacing a person or thing that has become superannuated, obsolete, or otherwise inferior.

the new edition supersedes all previous ones

In what contexts can supplant take the place of displace?

While the synonyms supplant and displace are close in meaning, supplant implies either a dispossessing or usurping of another's place, possessions, or privileges or an uprooting of something and its replacement with something else.

was abruptly supplanted in her affections by another

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of displace Israel's attack on Hamas' leaders in the Gulf comes as its military is carrying out an offensive to occupy all of Gaza City and forcibly displace its nearly 1 million residents. Aya Batrawy, NPR, 10 Sep. 2025 Working next to rookie left guard Donovan Jackson as a double team, Minnesota should be able to displace defenders with ease. Alec Lewis, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025 Since then, almost everyone in Gaza has been displaced. Natalie Davies, Freep.com, 10 Sep. 2025 August's heavy rainfall pummeled the greater Milwaukee area, destroying 51 homes, displacing nearly 50 people, damaging 4,500 residential and commercial buildings and causing at least $76 million in property damage. Steven Martinez, jsonline.com, 10 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for displace
Recent Examples of Synonyms for displace
Verb
  • By removing color, the focus shifts to texture, light, gesture, and gaze — emphasizing the nuances of connection and the multiplicity of what love can look like beyond normative, romanticized ideals.
    Caterina De Biasio, Vogue, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Social media platforms, including YouTube and X, have begun removing videos of the attack.
    N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The basket of other updates will be relegated to an omni quarterly update.
    Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
  • To make room, the 2025–26 campaign will promote two teams from the second tier while relegating just one through a new playoff system.
    Asli Pelit, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Ron Marinaccio replaced Sears with one out in the fifth and threw a career-high three innings before Wandy Peralta went the rest of the way.
    Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Sep. 2025
  • But a decision by Texas Republicans to redraw its congressional districts to favor the party in the upcoming 2026 midterms has spurred California Democrats to try and replace the independent maps — at least temporarily.
    Grace Hase, Mercury News, 13 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Taylor Swift will likely not be deposed in Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal battle.
    Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Sep. 2025
  • Wayfarer cofounder Steve Sarowitz, CEO Jamey Heath and Baldoni will be deposed later this month.
    Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 12 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Most of them — 69 people — were relocated to emergency shelters, while 22 others were placed in some form of permanent housing.
    Max Klaver, Miami Herald, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Carman Chan, founder of Click Ventures, a single-family office, similarly noted that many of her family office peers who set up businesses in Singapore are relocating back to Hong Kong.
    Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 12 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Arafat’s successor, current PA President Mahmoud Abbas, has banished and imprisoned opponents and critics.
    Sean Durns, The Washington Examiner, 12 Sep. 2025
  • This tension is only underlined by the filmmakers’ insistence on using pictures of the real Warrens and their demon-banishing clients in the credits of most Conjuring-verse movies.
    Bethy Squires, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • This is despite Israeli actions long superseding the targeting of Hamas.
    Esther Brito Ruiz, The Conversation, 5 Sep. 2025
  • And then a superseding indictment came out that was unsealed about a year and a half ago that specifically detailed Maduro's actions.
    Rachel Wolf, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Storms approaching the region start to reach cooler waters that aren't warm enough to fuel a hurricane and tradewinds in the region can topple a storm's cloud structure.
    Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Minneapolis will approach 90 degrees Sunday while Memphis could topple its record daily high of 98 degrees on Monday.
    Briana Waxman, CNN Money, 11 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Displace.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/displace. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on displace

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