instead

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From in +‎ stead, from Middle English ine (“in”) + stede (“stead”). Related to German statt.

Pronunciation

Adverb

instead (not comparable)

  1. 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: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      ‘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[1], volume 189, number 3, archived from the original on 18 February 2022, 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.
    • 2022 March 30, Tatum Hunter, “How to leave a bad online review without being a jerk”, in The Washington Post‎[2], Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 3 April 2022:
      Back in college, [Maddi] Filliater said she tweeted at a local sandwich shop about some alleged brown lettuce, and the business responded angrily: Why didn't she bring up the problem in person instead of attacking them on the Internet? Her friends refer to the incident as "LettuceGate."

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