instead
English · Thesaurus
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
instead
- /ɪnˈstɛd/ Canada, US, UK
- /ɪnˈsted/ Australia
- /ɪnˈstiːd/ Northumbria
Rhymes with -ɛd
Where it comes from
From in + stead, from Middle English ine (“in”) + stede (“stead”). Related to German statt.
adverb enstead · in steed · in stead · 'nstead
-
In the place of something (usually mentioned earlier); as a substitute or alternative.
I was going to go shopping, but I went dancing instead.
Similar: in lieu, alternatively
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: alternatively, rather, or else, replace, location, yes, alternately, relatively, conversely, meanwhile, now, better, precisely, fairly, preferably, yet
Translations
Every language
adv in the place of (it)
| Español | en vez de, en lugar de, en vez de ello, en lugar de aqueso, mejor, en su lugar |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 대신에 daesine |
| 日本語 | ...の代わりに ...no kawari-ni |
| 中文 | 代替 dàitì, 抵作 dǐzuò |
| हिन्दी | के बजाय ke bajāy |
| Português | em vez de, ao invés de, antes |
| Français | à la place, au lieu de, plutôt |
| Deutsch | stattdessen, anstatt |
| Italiano | in luogo di, invece, al posto di |
| Ελληνικά | αντί antí |
| Română | în loc de |
| Русский | вме́сто того́ vmésto tovó |
| Tiếng Việt | thay vì |
| العربية | بَدَلاً مِن badalan min |
| עברית | במקום |
Talk about this word "instead." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/instead. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. instead. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/instead "instead." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/instead.Cite this
@misc{instead_2026,
title = {instead},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/instead},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
