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
Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 1 June 2026
Tagovailoa could be more than a fill-in for Penix.
—CBS News, 27 May 2026
Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 June 2026
Beatrice Nolan here, filling in for AI editor Jeremy Kahn, who is in Aspen at Fortune Brainstorm Tech.
—Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 9 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for fill-in
Noun
Among those set to join the Hot Topics table in the episodes ahead are longtime fill-in panelist Sheryl Underwood, journalist Kara Swisher, and extending moderator Whoopi Goldberg's panel time into Fridays for the time being, though the EGOT winner typically has the day off each week.
—Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 1 June 2026
Tagovailoa could be more than a fill-in for Penix.
—CBS News, 27 May 2026
Verb
Meantime, Sung-Mun Song will start at shortstop and likely fill in at the position until Bogaerts rejoins the team on Friday in Baltimore.
—Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 June 2026
Beatrice Nolan here, filling in for AI editor Jeremy Kahn, who is in Aspen at Fortune Brainstorm Tech.
—Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 9 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for fill-in
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fill-in
Noun
-
Sparkling water may be a good substitute for soda.—
Carrie Madormo,
Verywell Health,
9 June 2026
-
Teams were allowed two substitutes, a rule first introduced for the 1990 tournament, and a new provision allowed a third for an injured goalkeeper or a keeper who received a red card.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
8 June 2026
Verb
-
Later Tuesday, Loboa sent an email to the DU community informing them about the academic realignment, a message that listed data and documents used to make the restructuring decisions.—
Elizabeth Hernandez,
Denver Post,
9 June 2026
-
Employees who work at the New Labor Agency Building, at O and 9th streets, were also sent memos informing them that the building does not have sufficient space to accommodate all employees in offices four days a week.—
William Melhado,
Sacbee.com,
9 June 2026
Verb
-
Dogs would be at the other end of the scale, metonymic creatures that stand in for us—and did for Diogenes—by virtue of their cultural proximity.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2026
-
On Friday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton stood in front of the San Mateo Elections Office to express his outrage over how long the vote count was taking.—
John Ramos,
CBS News,
9 June 2026
Noun
-
The impact was felt almost immediately as his replacement, Mitchell Robinson, committed a flagrant foul that allowed San Antonio to return the favor with a six-point sequence, stretching the lead back to double digits.—
Dan Zaksheske,
FOXNews.com,
14 June 2026
-
Legislators passed a law two years ago barring the use of that barcode for the official vote count beyond July 1 of this year, but no replacement method of tabulating votes was ever implemented.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 June 2026
Verb
-
An Israeli source told CNN that Netanyahu has also privately blamed Kushner and Witkoff for creating a wedge between the two leaders.—
Tal Shalev,
CNN Money,
15 June 2026
-
There must be something magical about Block Island after all, but only time will tell if that magic will extend to Jo-Ellen and Rulla, who still doubts that Jo-Ellen’s proof was well-meaning.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
15 June 2026
Verb
-
With incoming Chancellor Torence Powell taking over July 1, this marks a period of transition for the district of four community colleges in the Sacramento region.—
Tarini Mehta,
Sacbee.com,
16 June 2026
-
In late March, John Tortorella took over a Vegas Golden Knights team that had lost 12 of its last 16 games and didn’t remotely resemble a championship contender.—
Jesse Granger,
New York Times,
16 June 2026
Noun
-
So far, backup Nico Hansen has looked every bit the part of a starter in Steffen’s absence.—
Braidon Nourse,
Denver Post,
11 June 2026
-
If the affected systems had been designed with resilience principles in mind, like geographic redundancy and continuous backups, then the loss of data could have been mitigated.—
Leonard Lim,
Fortune,
10 June 2026
Verb
-
Anyone who may have been exposed to measles should first determine whether they have been vaccinated against measles by checking their immunization records, the public health department advised.—
Connor Sheets,
Los Angeles Times,
14 June 2026
-
Jon Hyman, chair of the employment and labor practice at the Wickens Herzer Panza law firm, advises his clients to trust individual managers to work out arrangements on a case-by-case basis.—
Jessica Guynn,
USA Today,
14 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fill-in.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fill-in. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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