as in substitute
a person or thing that takes the place of another
I'm just a fill-in, so I have no idea where office supplies are kept
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in to inform
to give information to
my friend quickly filled me in on the portion of the movie that I had missed
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to substitute
to serve as a replacement usually for a time only
she's only filling in while the regular secretary is on vacation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of fill-in
Shawn McFarland, Dallas Morning News, 27 Feb. 2026
Merrill is not new to the station, having done weekends and fill-ins previously.
—Richard Wagoner, Daily News, 16 Feb. 2026
Sarah Todd, STAT, 17 Mar. 2026
There is a chance he could be stretched out in Triple-A Omaha and fill in as needed — if called upon in 2026.
—Kansas City Star, 17 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fill-in
Noun
Smith has spent the past two seasons as the club’s go-to fill-in man but is now the lead candidate to replace Gold Glove-winner Marcus Semien at second base despite relative inexperience at the position.
—Shawn McFarland, Dallas Morning News, 27 Feb. 2026
Merrill is not new to the station, having done weekends and fill-ins previously.
—Richard Wagoner, Daily News, 16 Feb. 2026
Verb
But federal cuts that decimated the Office of Smoking and Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mean that Agaku, and others like him at companies and universities, are now working to fill in a range of gaps left by the government.
—Sarah Todd, STAT, 17 Mar. 2026
There is a chance he could be stretched out in Triple-A Omaha and fill in as needed — if called upon in 2026.
—Kansas City Star, 17 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fill-in
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fill-in
Noun
-
As that Arizona porch proved, a camera lens is a catastrophically poor substitute for a human gaze.—
Neal K. Shah,
Boston Herald,
17 Mar. 2026
-
They are embedded infrastructure for which the world has no easy substitute.—
Mohammed Sergie,
semafor.com,
17 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The worker then pulled the emergency brake to stop the train before getting off to inform the control tower.—
Evan Simko-Bednarski,
New York Daily News,
17 Mar. 2026
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Koch added that Joa plans to use artificial intelligence to create content and better inform teams and leagues about user behavior.—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
17 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Therefore, the Jazz pose the biggest threat of standing in the Mavericks’ way in the race for fifth place.—
Mike Curtis,
Dallas Morning News,
17 Mar. 2026
-
Outside the car window a vivid tropical sun set on Florida, Gary’s craggy, sunglassed profile standing in relief.—
Jonathan Bernstein,
Rolling Stone,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Her replacement outfit was an Alber Elbaz Lanvin pleated knee-length—black and funerary, like the Balenciaga, but much more forgiving.—
Han Ong,
New Yorker,
15 Mar. 2026
-
Teruaki Sato hit a game-tying RBI double before Shota Morishita, who entered the game as an injury replacement for Seiya Suziki, belted a three-run home run to give Japan a 5-2 lead.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
15 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Since childhood, letter writer was told to show up for older siblings who never reciprocated.—
Carolyn Hax,
Washington Post,
16 Mar. 2026
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One of Ghazali's neighbors told The Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, that the assailant's brother was killed in an airstrike.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Carie Hallford, 48, faced up to 20 years in prison for taking over $130,000 from families for funeral services, including cremations, and often giving them urns full of concrete mix instead.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
17 Mar. 2026
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At the time, the country was in the throes of a political struggle over leadership following the killing, with the interim prime minister, Claude Joseph, initially in charge before his replacement, Ariel Henry, took over.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Homeland is currently only partially funded, causing long airport backups and other inconveniences.—
Jeremy Lott,
The Washington Examiner,
20 Mar. 2026
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Yes, the Norton 360 Deluxe plan includes 50GB of cloud backup for your important files, shared across five devices.—
PCMag BrandX for Norton,
PC Magazine,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
These professionals are responsible for advising farms and agribusinesses on eco-friendly practices.—
Metro Creative Services,
Boston Herald,
16 Mar. 2026
-
The agency advised Americans to travel by land to either Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, or Turkey, given that Iraqi airspace is closed at least until Monday.—
Zach LaChance,
The Washington Examiner,
15 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fill-in.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fill-in. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.
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