Expedient vs Substitute - What's the difference?
expedient | substitute | Synonyms |
Simple, easy, or quick; convenient.
* Bible, John xvi. 7
* Whately
Governed by self-interest, often short-term self-interest.
* 1861 , John Stuart Mill,
(obsolete) Quick; rapid; expeditious.
* Shakespeare
A method or means for achieving a particular result, especially when direct or efficient; a resource.
* 1906 , O. Henry, :
* 2009 , (Diarmaid MacCulloch), A History of Christianity , Penguin 2010, page 709:
To use in place of something else, with the same function.
In the phrase "substitute X for Y", to use X in place of Y. With increasing frequency used in the semantically opposite sense (see
In the phrase "substitute X with/by Y", to use Y in place of X; to replace X with Y
(sports) To remove (a player) from the field of play and bring on another in his place.
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=April 11
, author=Phil McNulty
, title=Liverpool 3 - 0 Man City
, work=BBC Sport
To serve as a replacement (for someone or something)
* 1987 , , Essays in Economics, Vol. 2 , p. 75
A replacement or stand-in for something that achieves a similar result or purpose.
* De Quincey
(sports) A player who is available to replace another if the need arises, and who may or may not actually do so.
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=November 3
, author=David Ornstein
, title=Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke
, work=BBC Sport
(historical) One who enlists for military service in the place of a conscript.
Expedient is a synonym of substitute.
As nouns the difference between expedient and substitute
is that expedient is expedient while substitute is a replacement or stand-in for something that achieves a similar result or purpose.As verbs the difference between expedient and substitute
is that expedient is while substitute is to use in place of something else, with the same function.expedient
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- Most people, faced with a decision, will choose the most expedient option.
- It is expedient for you that I go away.
- Nothing but the right can ever be expedient , since that can never be true expediency which would sacrifice a greater good to a less.
- But the Expedient', in the sense in which it is opposed to the Right, generally means that which is ' expedient for the particular interest of the agent himself; as when a minister sacrifices the interests of his country to keep himself in place.
- His marches are expedient to this town.
Noun
(en noun)- He would never let her know that he was aware of the strange expedient to which she had been driven by her great distress.
- Depressingly, [...] the expedient of importing African slaves was in part meant to protect the native American population from exploitation.
External links
* * ----substitute
English
Verb
(substitut)- I had no shallots so I substituted onion.
the OED's notes).
- I had to substitute new parts for the old ones.
- I had to substitute old parts with the new ones. (This usage was formerly proscribed.)
- He was playing poorly and was substituted after twenty minutes
citation, page= , passage=Mario Balotelli replaced Tevez but his contribution was so negligible that he suffered the indignity of being substituted himself as time ran out, a development that encapsulated a wretched 90 minutes for City and boss Roberto Mancini. }}
- Accumulation of wealth by this route may substitute for personal saving.
Usage notes
The verb "to substitute" can be used transitively in two opposite ways. "To substitute X" may mean either "use X in place of something else" (as in definitions 1 and 2), or "use something else in place of X" (as in definitions 3 and 4). The latter use is more recent, but it is widespread and now generally accepted (seethe COED's note on the matter). However, if the indirect object (the "something else") is omitted, the preposition is also omitted, and the reader or hearer cannot tell which sense is meant: * "Substitute butter for olive oil" = Use butter instead of olive oil * "Substitute olive oil for butter" = Use olive oil instead of butter * "Substitute butter" = ??? * "Substitute olive oil" = ???
Noun
(en noun)- Ladies [in Shakespeare's age] wore masks as the sole substitute known to our ancestors for the modern parasol.
citation, page= , passage=Dean Whitehead opened the scoring shortly after the break with a low finish and substitute Peter Crouch sealed the win with a tap-in.}}