instilling

verb

present participle of instill
as in planting
to set permanently in the consciousness or mind-set a charismatic leader who instilled in his followers a passionate commitment to the cause

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of instilling A lot of that was Lance instilling an incredible amount of confidence in me from the beginning. — Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2026 The duo credits their mother, who had dreams of being a professional singer, for instilling them with her love of music. — Lucas Villa, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2026 But sometimes making a big change like that and instilling this idea of integrity back in the world is probably one of the most important things anyone can do. — Danielle Parker, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026 Acoustic wooden bafflers frame the space and help create a sense of intimacy, with grand works from local artists peppered about and instilling a tangible sense of place. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026 At Burger King, part of instilling its own hospitality philosophy begins with employee training. — Sadie Chafe, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026 Strength coach Rusty Whitt has transformed players’ bodies while instilling a competitive fire and no-nonsense approach. — Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 Sep. 2026 Instead, Price credits his mother for instilling in him the value of perseverance, forged from her battle with breast cancer as a single mother. — Andrew Destin, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026 What to read next Shows like Cowboy Bebop had a ragtag team of underdogs exploring the solar system, instilling lessons about loneliness and existentialism. — George Yang, Space.com, 1 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for instilling
  1. planting
  2. breeding
  3. implanting
  4. embedding
Verb
  • Sow Right Seeds Pumpkin Seeds While this method of fall decor may take longer than ordering a premade item online, for those who have space, planting your own variety of pumpkins can produce all-natural homegrown decorations.
    — BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 5 Nov. 2026
  • The industry publication Data Center Dynamics also pointed to a recent proposal by a Russian regional governor to build data centers within open-pit coal mines while planting green public parks above as camouflage.
    — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of planting
Verb
  • Monarchs typically live two to six weeks, but the butterflies that migrate to Mexico can live up to nine months and spend their lives moving south, waiting out the winter and migrating north again before breeding in the spring.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Nov. 2026
  • Farms spend decades breeding mink to develop unique genetic lineages.
    — Nat Lash, ProPublica, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of breeding
Verb
  • The magnetic approach could offer a less invasive alternative to implanting electrodes.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Cultured pearls, as opposed to natural ones, are created by implanting a shell bead into a mollusk.
    — Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of implanting
Verb
  • Complex itineraries, repeat bookings and loyalty programs give agents a steady workload, which is why industry leaders are embedding them into their core products rather than treating them as side experiments.
    — Lauren Schuster, Kansas City Star, 27 Oct. 2026
  • An elusive recipe In 2020, Dutch researchers reproduced the green/red dichroic effect of the Lycurgus Cup in a 3D printable nanocomposite material by embedding small amounts of silver and gold nanoparticles, of the proper size and shapes.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of embedding

Browse Nearby Words

instilled
instilling
instills
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Instilling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/instilling. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

The Words of the Week - Nov. 6

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All