What does "stand-in" mean?

A person of similar size and shape to an actor who substitutes for or replaces that actor during the lengthy process of setting up a shot, but who, unlike a double, does not appear in the film.

What is a synonym for "stand-in"?

Common synonyms include: advocate, alter ego, alternate, alternative, amicus curiae, analogy.

Stand-in

noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A person of similar size and shape to an actor who substitutes for or replaces that actor during the lengthy process of setting up a shot, but who, unlike a double, does not appear in the film.
"They used a stand-in to set up the lighting so that the actor did not have to be there during the lengthy process."
2
someone who takes the place of another (as when things get dangerous or difficult) wordnet
3
A substitute.
"France's own stand-in stand-off Trinh-Duc missed with a drop-goal when well set but then set off on a curving run through a scattered defensive line which carried him deep into enemy territory until Weepu's desperate tap-tackle finally brought him down."

Synonyms

All synonyms

advocate alter ego alternate alternative amicus curiae analogy

Example

More examples

"Hawaii’s volcanic activity today is a good stand-in for the conditions that existed on ancient Mars."

Etymology

Deverbal from stand in.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.