Definition of displacenext
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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 Haitians joined the program in 2010 after a catastrophic earthquake and have been extended multiple times amid ongoing gang violence that has displaced more than a million people, according to court documents. Lindsay Whitehurst, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2026 At least two people were killed and homes and infrastructure were damaged, displacing dozens of residents and expanding the toll of the multiday severe weather outbreak. Briana Waxman, CNN Money, 29 Apr. 2026 The closure follows last year’s shutdown of the Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park in Sweetwater, which displaced thousands and pushed some residents into homelessness. Max Klaver, Miami Herald, 29 Apr. 2026 In addition to the fatalities, six people were treated for injuries, and dozens of families were displaced, according to NBC DFW. Brandi D. Addison, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for displace
Recent Examples of Synonyms for displace
Verb
  • Robinson was among 425 volunteers spreading out from four different locations on Saturday throughout Waukegan, removing trash from the lakefront, the city’s downtown and its neighborhoods, ending eight days of active environmental stewardship during the city’s fifth-annual Earth Week cleanup.
    Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Creamy, hydrating cleansers maintain the moisture barrier while still removing dirt and makeup effectively.
    Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Kansas City Star, 27 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Qualifying for the Champions League could boost revenue by a few hundred million; being relegated could cost a team an equal (or much greater) amount.
    Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 30 Apr. 2026
  • The club was relegated in 2019, the first time in 68 years.
    Tom Bogert, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Sometimes the batteries on the trackers would run low, and McGovern’s team would need to remove and recharge the devices, before surreptitiously replacing them.
    Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 30 Apr. 2026
  • The chaotic noise of Main Street traffic dissolves into the walls of this former bank vault, replaced by high-fidelity global sounds.
    Nathanael Gassett, Bon Appetit Magazine, 30 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • The House oversight committee held depositions with former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in late February after Comer deposed the couple.
    Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 24 Apr. 2026
  • The committee has deposed numerous people who knew Epstein, including Ohio billionaire Les Wexner, who hired Epstein to manage his finances, and former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
    Justine McDaniel, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Senior state safety officials this month advised New London to do a comprehensive inspection of the five-story, 30-apartment building on the city’s waterfront, and be prepared to revoke the certificate of occupancy and relocate tenants if necessary.
    Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 29 Apr. 2026
  • The trend has been that few actually would relocate.
    Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 29 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • By the end of that show, the anxiety and isolation that freight life in the closet had burned away, leaving a happy, hopeful ending in place of familiar narrative disaster; love is found, secrecy is banished, and all is well.
    Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Something’s lost in the translation, but with dazzling costumes, hyper-energetic singing and dancing and joyful spirit filling the Nederlander, quibbles end up banished beyond the flats.
    Greg Evans, Deadline, 20 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Every Gothic cathedral is the product of ideas that altered over generations, ambitions abandoned or superseded, compromises with ballooning budgets, labor shortages, or bottlenecks in the supply chain from quarries and forests and mines.
    Justin Davidson, Curbed, 23 Apr. 2026
  • Industry associations frame the career as one with enviable job security, given the ever-increasing need for nurses that supersedes economic downturns.
    Tristan Bove, Fortune, 23 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • During the Iraq War, the popular narrative was that our heroic soldiers and marines were going in to liberate the people, free women, and topple a brutal dictator—the same nonsense we are fed now about Iran.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Apr. 2026
  • That view began to rupture as the first shots of the Revolutionary War rang out in Lexington and Concord in 1775, and a year later Americans resolved to topple the king – metaphorically and literally.
    Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 28 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Displace.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/displace. Accessed 2 May. 2026.

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