as in rather
as a substitute
I was offered a ride, but I chose to walk instead
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Recent Examples of instead
Comfort doesn’t come easy now, but instead is actively built and maintained.
—
Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 6 Jan. 2026
Nations previously interested in buying Russian aircraft have opted for Chinese or NATO offerings instead, like India choosing France's Rafale jet.
—Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Nov. 2025
That’s a dynamic Republicans are wrestling with in public right now, as the GOP’s efforts to purge both critics of Israel and open antisemites from the party risk instead driving its populist wing closer to those positions.
—Ben Smith, semafor.com, 10 Nov. 2025
And there’s also an argument that humans shouldn’t be going to planets and moons at all and should instead stick to building space stations and other sorts of artificial orbital habitats.
—Lee Billings, Scientific American, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for instead
Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 6 Jan. 2026
Nations previously interested in buying Russian aircraft have opted for Chinese or NATO offerings instead, like India choosing France's Rafale jet.
—Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Nov. 2025
That’s a dynamic Republicans are wrestling with in public right now, as the GOP’s efforts to purge both critics of Israel and open antisemites from the party risk instead driving its populist wing closer to those positions.
—Ben Smith, semafor.com, 10 Nov. 2025
And there’s also an argument that humans shouldn’t be going to planets and moons at all and should instead stick to building space stations and other sorts of artificial orbital habitats.
—Lee Billings, Scientific American, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for instead
Recent Examples of Synonyms for instead
rather
Adverb
-
This character of aberrance is what makes accidental surfing deaths seem inevitable—or, rather, inexorable, built into the subway’s force.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
8 Nov. 2025
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The lack of competition means the greatest fear many lawmakers have is not the prospect of losing to the other party in a general election but rather being snuffed out in a primary by a more ideological and extreme challenger.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
8 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Instead.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/instead. Accessed 7 Jan. 2026.
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