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
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of fill-in
Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 25 Apr. 2026
Last word Gabby Lucivero, first woman to be named Connecticut Sportscaster of the Year, is leaving NBC CT after eight years to join ESPN radio as a fill-in host.
—Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 19 Apr. 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
Spurs stay small but survive Luke Kornet functioned well as Wembanyama’s fill-in, producing 14 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in 30 minutes.
—Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 25 Apr. 2026
Last word Gabby Lucivero, first woman to be named Connecticut Sportscaster of the Year, is leaving NBC CT after eight years to join ESPN radio as a fill-in host.
—Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 19 Apr. 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
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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
-
Katz-Mayfield came up with the idea for the startup based on his frustration with the status quo of buying $20 replacement razor blades.—
Amelia Lucas,Melissa Repko,
CNBC,
7 June 2026
-
The replacement rate drops to 32% for incomes between $1,286 and $7,749, and to 15% for incomes above $7,749.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
7 June 2026
Verb
-
Benjie Ancheta, police chief of Alabel town in Sarangani in the Philippines, told Reuters that the police building had some cracks immediately after the quake, which occurred during their flag-raising ceremony.—
Kathleen Magramo,
CNN Money,
8 June 2026
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The suspect is likely the father of the two children, police told ABC-7.—
Noah Goldberg
Follow,
Los Angeles Times,
8 June 2026
Verb
-
But a Romanian judge ruled that the brothers could not be extradited until the local proceedings were complete—and, two years after Cezar Profira took over, the trafficking case seemed to be going nowhere.—
Heidi Blake,
New Yorker,
8 June 2026
-
Indeed, Knicks fever has taken over the five boroughs, from the frenzied postgame fan congregations on 7th Ave to the MTA repainting the entrance to a 34th Street subway station in orange and blue.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
8 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
-
The islands of Paulau, Yap, and Micronesia were advised to listen to the latest information from officials, the weather service said.—
Dinah Voyles Pulver,
USA Today,
8 June 2026
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The multilingual avatar can advise on what to do when your bank certificates of deposit are maturing, for example, or how to manage your children’s college fund.—
Meg Short,
Fortune,
7 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fill-in.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fill-in. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
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