Synonyms

instead of

Idioms

Also, in lieu of; in place of; in someone's stead. In substitution for, rather than. For example, She wore a dress instead of slacks, or They had a soprano in lieu of a tenor, or In place of soft drinks they served fruit juice, or The chairman spoke in her stead. Instead of dates from about 1200; in lieu of, which borrows lieu, meaning “place,” from French, dates from the late 1200s; in place of dates from the 1500s; and in someone's stead from the 1200s. Also see under in someone's shoes.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

To Richard’s horror, it has, for want of income, become a dinner theater, hosting touring productions of “Nunsense” and “Forever Plaid” instead of the great stage works on which he cut his teeth.

From Los Angeles Times

It has been working with tech companies to determine how such facilities could stay online during brief faults on the system instead of switching to backup.

From The Wall Street Journal

Insomnia and sleep apnea should be assessed together instead of in isolation.

From Science Daily

"Instead of acting as therapies themselves, molecules like caffeine or rapamycin can serve as precise control signals for sophisticated cell and gene therapies. Because these compounds are already well understood, this approach opens a practical path toward translation. Our hope is that one day, clinicians could use simple, familiar inputs to finely tune powerful therapies in a safe and reversible way."

From Science Daily

Instead of treating diseases one by one, could slowing the aging process reduce the risk of several at once?

From Science Daily

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023