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Is "temporary substitute" redundant? For example,

Mrs. Williams is the temporary substitute teacher.

Would "temporary substitute" be redundant in this case? According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of a substitute is

A person or thing that takes the place or function of another.

To me that could mean that the person or thing is taking the place of another, but it's still the other's place. But it could mean that the person or thing is replacing the "another" in question.

Certainly in conversation when a person says "Mrs. Williams is the substitute teacher" that implies it's temporary. "Replacement" would be the word if it was permanent.

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    short-term or long-term substitute. I would eschew temporary.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jul 13, 2022 at 16:21
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    Long-term substitute is not synonymous with replacement even if that substitute replaces the teacher long term. Shall we stop here? :)
    – Lambie
    Commented Jul 13, 2022 at 16:28
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    It's a job title so it's got a purpose. You may want to emphasize the non-permanence. And remember, redundancy is a feature, not a bug.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Jul 13, 2022 at 16:34
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    Is the question purely about substitute teachers? A substitute teacher is a particular position, that implies short-term work. Schools hire someone as a substitute teacher while a permanent teacher is unavailable. Other uses of substitute may differ.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Jul 13, 2022 at 16:39
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    Maybe Mr Hanes will be out for a month. Maybe Ms Wright (whom they usually use as a substitute) won’t be available until Monday so they brought in a temporary substitute just for the rest of this week.
    – Jim
    Commented Jul 13, 2022 at 17:04

2 Answers 2

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Generally and grammatically "temporary substitute" is not redundant. There can certainly be long term substitutes, and substitutes can in fact be permanent.

We are discontinuing your current phone plan, and are instead substituting one that costs the same and has more data.

This carries no implication that your old phone plan will ever come back. In football (soccer for you North Americans) a substitute is permanent, and the player substituted will not come back.

There is the word "replacement", but "replacement" does not have to be permanent either (see "replacement bus service") and there is no rule saying you have to use a different word because it fits slightly better.

In the specific case of teachers, most people would understand a "substitute teacher" to be temporary so the word is probably unnecessary. However do not rule out the possibility that the teacher may be even more temporary that "substitute" would imply, and the word is being used for emphasis.

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Without more context, it's difficult to say. But it is an established term within education to refer to specific types of substitute teachers.

It could be a short term sub:

Per diem temporary substitute teacher means a person hired on an incidental basis, i.e., from one day or part of one day to ten school days, to serve as a teacher in the position of a regular teacher who is absent from work — Law Insider

It could be someone who is only eligible to sub under a specific, temporary exemption (usually because of COVID and the resulting substitute shortages):

According to the Regulations for Educator Licensure and Preparation Program Approval 603 CMR 7.00, Section 7.14 (10), temporary substitute teachers are exempted from the provisions of G. L. c. 71, § 38G or M. G. L. c. 71A, § 6, which require the possession of an educator license. — Massachusetts DOE

It could even just be used as the opposite of a permanent substitute teacher:

Permanent substitutes are embedded within a single school community for the duration of a school year. They report to the same school each day, checking in with clerical and administrative staff to receive assignments. — ESS

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