Extra
Extra noun - An interchangeable part or piece of equipment that is kept on hand for replacement of an original.
Stand in
Stand in verb - To serve as a replacement usually for a time only.
Both terms in one sentence
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Jobber: Surprisingly, Joe has done four years work for the WWF, but whenever he wasn't just an extra body to stand in the background, he seemed to be losing to make someone else look better, usually off camera.
Source: Wrestling / Samoa Joe - The Maze: The Desolate Desert Welcome to Corneria: An early-game NPC complains to you how his sole purpose is to stand in one spot and say 'Welcome to Common Town.' For extra irony, he's standing immediately next to a sign saying the exact same thing.
Source: Video Game / Gobli's Adventure - They insist on going the extra mile, to make the manner of their victim's death so complicated and elaborate that it's almost an art form in and of itself — so that anyone who gazes upon the scene will stand in awe of their mental superiority in devising cruel and unusual ways to kill people.
Source: Rube Goldberg Hates Your Guts
Cite this Source
Stand in and Extra. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 13, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/extra/stand_in
Extra & Stand in. N.p., 2016. Web. 13 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/extra/stand_in>.
Stand in or Extra. 2016. Accessed August 13, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/extra/stand_in.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "extra" and "stand in" have occurred on timeline