ersatz


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er·satz

 (ĕr′zäts′, ĕr-zäts′)
adj.
1. Being a usually inferior imitation or substitute; artificial: ersatz coffee made of chicory.
2. Not genuine; fake: "Popularity was an intoxicant ... reporters began to ask for interviews and I gave them in an ersatz accent" (Maya Angelou).

[German, replacement, from ersetzen, to replace, from Old High German irsezzan : ir-, out; see ud- in Indo-European roots + sezzan, to set; see sed- in Indo-European roots.]

er′satz′ n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ersatz

(ˈɛəzæts; ˈɜː-)
adj
made in imitation of some natural or genuine product; artificial
n
an ersatz substance or article
[C20: German, from ersetzen to substitute]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

er•satz

(ˈɛr zɑts, -sɑts, ɛrˈzɑts, -ˈsɑts)

adj.
1. serving as a substitute; synthetic; artificial: ersatz coffee made from grain.
n.
2. an artificial substitute for something natural or genuine.
[1870–75; < German Ersatz a substitute (derivative of ersetzen to replace)]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

ersatz

A German word meaning substitute, used to describe something artificial or imitation.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.ersatz - an artificial or inferior substitute or imitation
substitute, replacement - a person or thing that takes or can take the place of another
Adj.1.ersatz - artificial and inferior; "ersatz coffee"; "substitute coffee"
artificial, unreal - contrived by art rather than nature; "artificial flowers"; "artificial flavoring"; "an artificial diamond"; "artificial fibers"; "artificial sweeteners"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

ersatz

adjective artificial, substitute, pretend, fake, imitation, synthetic, bogus, simulated, sham, counterfeit, spurious, phoney or phony (informal) an electric fire with ersatz logs
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

ersatz

noun
An inferior substitute imitating an original:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

ersatz

[ˈɛəzæts]
A. ADJsucedáneo
B. Nsucedáneo m
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

ersatz

adjErsatz-; ersatz religionErsatzreligion f; ersatz coffeeKaffee-Ersatz m
nErsatz m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

ersatz

[ˈɛəzæts] adjsurrogato/a
ersatz coffee → caffè surrogato
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in periodicals archive ?
They are Ersatz Enterprises, Arkroad Holdings and Kalabash Food.
"Elementary" Season 6, episode 10, titled "The Adventure of the Ersatz Sobekneferu," airs on Monday, July 2 at 10 p.m.
Actualist counterpart theory replaces David Lewis's concrete possible worlds and individuals with ersatz worlds and individuals, but retains counterpart theory about de re modality.
Blue-patterned tolle de Jouy table skirts contrast with a striking selection of original modern paintings by artists including Robert Indiana, Nancy Craves and Josef Albers, turning the dining room into an ersatz gallery.
Officials have long said the big problem for Tehran was the ersatz gasoline being made in petrochemical plants.
Patrons received error messages when they tried to visit the home pages of the Venetian casino, famous for its ersatz canals, and the Palazzo casino, next door on the Las Vegas Strip.
The trailer includes ersatz literary factotum James Franco as Shteyngart's lover, the suddenly ubiquitous Alex Karpovsky as his barista, the struggling-to-seem-funny Jonathan Franzen as his shrink, Sloane Crosley, Rashida Jones, and others.
Set in the gaudy, ersatz, OTT days of pre-crash America, the film clearly plays to Luhrmann's gaudy, ersatz and OTT strengths.
hymen of skin & I'm horrified--the flesh is woody & ersatz,
Mutant mango or ersatz squash, yellow skin pocked with green
And, most telling of all, no mention that, despite her ersatz fame, she'd been desperate to please a man who sought to exploit her.