How to use ersatz in a sentence

12 example sentences · adjective, noun

Ersatz means an inauthentic or inadequate substitute or imitation. Example: “Back then, we could only get ersatz coffee.”

Examples of ersatz by meaning

adjectiveAn inauthentic or inadequate substitute or imitation.

Back then, we could only get ersatz coffee.
In these days of “rolled” gold, electro-plate, and undetectable pearls, it is curious that almost the only honest Ersatz material known to the goldsmith's art should be utterly forgotten.1923, Arthur Michael Samuel, “Pinchbeck”, in The Mancroft Essays, page 164
Ersatz has become a brave word in Germany.[1929 September 16, “Zeppelining”, in Time

nounSomething made in imitation; an effigy or substitute.

The consumer has little to gain in purchasing a product containing questionable ersatzes if his life is to be endangered or he will suffer ill effects.1951, United States Congress, Chemicals in Food Products, U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 400
What intrigues us is what will happen when the ersatzes for the ersatzes come along.1955 June 30, “Ersatzes for Ersatzes”, in The Christian Science Monitor, volume 47, number 182
They don't have the skills to tell ersatz magic from the real thing, for as children they daily invested the ersatz with what imagination they had.2003 July 7, A. S. Byatt, “Harry Potter and the Childish Adult”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN...

More sentences with ersatz

Eventually, inevitably, it was just Smith, and one baseball-mitted coach throwing down ersatz spin.2022 March 3, Geoff Lemon, “Australia plunge into unknown as cricket’s resurrection in Pakistan continues”, in The Guardian. From the entry baseball-mitted
Boris Johnson the "ersatz Churchill" needed the real one to remain untouchable and unvarnished to serve his own narrative as his latter-day incarnation.2021, Otto English, Fake History, page 35. From the entry unvarnished
Kreamer sets out to prove that an attractive noncelebrity can also remain alluring as she lets her ersatz brunette fade to gray.2007 August 30, Natasha Singer, “Bottled Blondes, You Too Can Break Free”, in New York Times. From the entry noncelebrity
Historians are duty bound never to salt the mine of history by the creation of ersatz facts introduced to fulfill their preconceived ideas.2006, Steven T. Katz, Alan Rosen, Elie Wiesel, Obliged by Memory: Literature, Religion, Ethics, Syracuse University Press, →ISBN, page 64. From the entry salt the mine
As these ersatz Shangri-las competed to outdo each other with the latest tropical-inspired styles, the popularity of the neighborhood Tiki lounge soared.2004, Otto von Stroheim, “Introduction”, in Tiki Art Now!: A Volcanic Eruption of Art, San Francisco, Calif.: Last Gasp of San Francisco…. From the entry Shangri-La
If a person truly believes in the mythology of Black Muslimism — or Judaism, or Christianity — then he does not need the ersatz mythology of medicalism and therapeutism.1996, Thomas Szasz, Our Right to Drugs: The Case for a Free Market, page 122. From the entry Muslimism

Meaning of ersatz

adjective An inauthentic or inadequate substitute or imitation.
noun Something made in imitation; an effigy or substitute.

Full definition of ersatz

Questions about ersatz in a sentence

How do you use ersatz in a sentence?: Ersatz is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “Back then, we could only get ersatz coffee.”
What is a short sentence with ersatz?: “Back then, we could only get ersatz coffee.”
What does ersatz mean?: Ersatz means an inauthentic or inadequate substitute or imitation.

Adapted from Wiktionary: ersatz (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use ersatz in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/ersatz. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.