From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishersatzer‧satz /ˈeəzæts $ ˈerzɑːts/ adjective [usually before noun] ARTIFICIALartificial, and not as good as the real thing ersatz coffee
Examples from the Corpus
ersatz• His hunger was however strong enough to get him through that, along with the slice of ersatz brown bread.• Later, ersatz coffee and bread were brought in.• His wife scurried around serving ersatz coffee and comforting a baby born four days previously.• This is one of the many New York culinary delights that appear only in ersatz forms outside the city.• Finally, the cult of personal cleanliness is an ersatz religion.Origin ersatz (1800-1900) German “something used instead of something else” 