Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Instead
In-stead′
,adv.
[Pref.
in-
+ stead
place.] 1.
In the place or room; – usually followed by of.
Let thistles grow of wheat.
Job xxxi. 40.
Absalom made Amasa captain of the host
instead
of Joab. 2 Sam. xvii. 25.
2.
Equivalent; equal to; – usually with of.
[R.]
This very consideration to a wise man is
instead
of a thousand arguments, to satisfy him, that in those times no such thing was believed. Tillotson.
Webster 1828 Edition
Instead
INSTEAD
, insted'. [a compound of in and stead, place; but stead retains its character of a noun, and is followed by of; instead of, in the same manner as in the stead of.]In the place or room of.
Let thistles grow instead of wheat. Job 31.
Absalom made Amasa captain of the hose instead of Joab. 2 Sam.17.
This consideration is instead of a thousand arguments. In this use, instead may be equivalent to equal to.
When instead is used without of following, there is an ellipsis, or some words are understood.
Definition 2024
instead
instead
English
Alternative forms
Adverb
instead (not comparable)
- In the place of something (usually mentioned earlier); as a substitute or alternative.
- I was going to go shopping, but I went dancing instead.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess:
- ‘It's rather like a beautiful Inverness cloak one has inherited. Much too good to hide away, so one wears it instead of an overcoat and pretends it's an amusing new fashion.’
- 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:
- Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming, […]. A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
in the place of (it)
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Statistics
Most common English words before 1923: caught · below · window · #654: instead · giving · presence · learned