instrumental

adjective

in·​stru·​men·​tal ˌin(t)-strə-ˈmen-tᵊl 

1

a

: serving as a crucial means, agent, or tool

was instrumental in organizing the strike

b

: of, relating to, or done with an instrument or tool

2

: relating to, composed for, or performed on a musical instrument

3

: of, relating to, or being a grammatical case or form expressing means or agency

4

: of or relating to instrumentalism

5

: operant sense 3

instrumental learning

instrumental conditioning

instrumental noun

instrumentally

ˌin(t)-strə-ˈmen-tᵊl-ē 

adverb

Did you know?

An instrument is a tool, something used to construct. It's often a tool for making music. A musical saw happens to be a carpenter's tool that can be played with a violin bow (though you probably wouldn't want to play a wrench or a pair of pliers). The musical meanings of instrumental, as in "It starts with an instrumental piece" or "a jazz instrumental", are common. But the meanings "helpful", "useful", and "essential", as in "He was instrumental in getting my book published", are just as common.

Examples of instrumental in a Sentence

They played instrumental music at the wedding.

an instrumental version of a song

Recent Examples on the Web

Both were instrumental in raising awareness of HIV/AIDS in the Black community, which already suffered disproportionately from the disease. —Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY, 12 Oct. 2024

Tonight Of course, these abilities have also taken Liverpool forward; under previous boss Jürgen Klopp’s tutelage, Alexander-Arnold was instrumental in helping the team win every coveted accolade. —Henry Flynn, Forbes, 11 Oct. 2024

But Pallone was instrumental in helping pass the drug price negotiation portion of the IRA, and in hopes of a Democratic sweep has introduced legislation to expand the number of drugs subject to Medicare price negotiations and extend drugmaker inflation rebates to the private market. —Victoria Knight, Axios, 10 Oct. 2024

As chairman, Tata was instrumental in spearheading over 60 global acquisitions, helping to grow the group’s revenue past $100 billion during his tenure. —Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1616, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

instrumental

adjective

in·​stru·​men·​tal ˌin(t)-strə-ˈment-ᵊl 

1

a

: acting as an instrument or means

was instrumental in organizing the club

b

: of, relating to, or done with an instrument

instrumental error

2

: relating to, composed for, or performed on a musical instrument

an unusual instrumental arrangement

instrumentally

-ᵊl-ē 

adverb

Medical Definition

instrumental

adjective

in·​stru·​men·​tal ˌin(t)-strə-ˈment-ᵊl 

: operant

instrumental learning

instrumental conditioning