ersatz - meaning and definition. What is ersatz
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What (who) is ersatz - definition

SUBSTITUTE GOOD, PARTICULARLY IN WARTIME
Ersatzteile; Ersatzspieler; Ersatzkaffee; Ersatz
  • Ersatz bread from World War I on display at the [[Imperial War Museum]] in London
  • Advertisement for ''ersatz'' coffee (containing some [[coffee beans]]) in 1926
  • goose-foot seed]] and bran, and fried in [[mineral oil]].

ersatz         
If you describe something as ersatz, you dislike it because it is not genuine and is a poor imitation of something better. (WRITTEN)
...an ersatz Victorian shopping precinct...
= fake
ADJ: usu ADJ n [disapproval]
Ersatz         
Fake, false.
His hair was ersatz, Sally realised, as it blew off in the strong wind.
ersatz         
['?:sats, '?:-]
¦ adjective (of a product) made or used as an inferior substitute for something else.
?not real or genuine: ersatz emotion.
Origin
C19: from Ger., lit. 'replacement'.

Wikipedia

Ersatz good

An ersatz good (German: [ɛɐ̯ˈzats]) is a substitute good, especially one that is considered inferior to the good it replaces. It has particular connotations of wartime usage.

Examples of use of ersatz
1. The cake is perfect and your ersatz Elvis knows what songs to sing.
2. A man can‘t make an omelette quietly, let alone a convincing ersatz cock.
3. Conjuring up ersatz bodies for reasons of administrative convenience suits the powerful.
4. We‘re not settling for green chips or ersatz ketchup any more.
5. Inside the Olympic Green, the Chinese culture on display has not been completely ersatz.