adv ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb

1. 1
   In the place of something (usually mentioned earlier); as a substitute or alternative. not-comparable

   "I was going to go shopping, but I went dancing instead."

Adverb

1. 1
   in place of, or as an alternative to wordnet
2. 2
   on the contrary wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

alternativelyalternativelyin lieuin lieulieuor else

Example

More examples

"I may give up soon and just nap instead."

Etymology

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

Related phrases

instead ofanother choiceboth togethereither orlieu ofother optionother thanplace ofrather thansomething else

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.