1
as in teaching
to cause to acquire knowledge or skill in some field
spent his military career instructing young pilots
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in informing
to give information to
instructed everyone in the use of the new telephone system
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in telling
to issue orders to (someone) by right of authority
the proctors instructed everyone to put their pencils down and hand in their tests
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of instructing
Last year, the $205 billion bank sent out a memo introducing required AI training to 175,000 staffers across 80 locations—instructing them particularly in prompting—Citi confirmed with Fortune.
—
Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 27 Jan. 2026
Hendrick shared a story about legendary crew chief Ray Evernham instructing his pit crew to run wind sprints to get in shape — something that wasn’t common practice in the 1980s.
—Hunter Bailey, Charlotte Observer, 23 Jan. 2026
It is addressed to Claude and used at different stages in the model’s training to shape its character, instructing it to be safe, ethical, compliant with Anthropic’s guidelines, and helpful to the user—in that order.
—Nikita Ostrovsky, Time, 21 Jan. 2026
According to reporting by Popular Information, ICE has not paid third-party medical providers for detainee treatment since October 3, 2025, instructing providers to hold all claims until at least April 30, 2026.
—Zachary Bynum, CBS News, 21 Jan. 2026
The Broncos have had scoreboard cues, including a pregame video featuring Peyton Manning, instructing fans to disrupt the opposing team’s huddle all season.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 16 Jan. 2026
Prosecutors said that even after pleading guilty, D’Habsburg continued attempting to lure victims, and engaged in witness tampering by instructing existing victims not to share his communications without first speaking to him or his team.
—City News Service, Daily News, 16 Jan. 2026
Would the original ending have landed, or was A24 right in instructing Safdie to BFFR?
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 15 Jan. 2026
China retaliated by instructing customs agents not to allow Nvidia’s less-advanced H200 chips into the country and warned tech firms to buy them only if absolutely necessary, according to a separate Reuters report.
—Paulina Likos, CNBC, 14 Jan. 2026
Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 27 Jan. 2026
Hendrick shared a story about legendary crew chief Ray Evernham instructing his pit crew to run wind sprints to get in shape — something that wasn’t common practice in the 1980s.
—Hunter Bailey, Charlotte Observer, 23 Jan. 2026
It is addressed to Claude and used at different stages in the model’s training to shape its character, instructing it to be safe, ethical, compliant with Anthropic’s guidelines, and helpful to the user—in that order.
—Nikita Ostrovsky, Time, 21 Jan. 2026
According to reporting by Popular Information, ICE has not paid third-party medical providers for detainee treatment since October 3, 2025, instructing providers to hold all claims until at least April 30, 2026.
—Zachary Bynum, CBS News, 21 Jan. 2026
The Broncos have had scoreboard cues, including a pregame video featuring Peyton Manning, instructing fans to disrupt the opposing team’s huddle all season.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 16 Jan. 2026
Prosecutors said that even after pleading guilty, D’Habsburg continued attempting to lure victims, and engaged in witness tampering by instructing existing victims not to share his communications without first speaking to him or his team.
—City News Service, Daily News, 16 Jan. 2026
Would the original ending have landed, or was A24 right in instructing Safdie to BFFR?
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 15 Jan. 2026
China retaliated by instructing customs agents not to allow Nvidia’s less-advanced H200 chips into the country and warned tech firms to buy them only if absolutely necessary, according to a separate Reuters report.
—Paulina Likos, CNBC, 14 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for instructing
Verb
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Kat Lake, 41, has five pinball machines in her home and loves teaching people about the game.—
Jo Yurcaba,
NBC news,
31 Jan. 2026
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Other teachers who are part of the ARTLC testify to the immense difficulty of teaching these sorts of lessons without support from school administrators.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Bystander videos, like the ones taken of Pretti, have played a key role for decades in informing the public when law enforcement kills or injures people.—
Ava Berger,
NPR,
28 Jan. 2026
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That discipline is now informing its expansion into the United States, where conversational AI is widespread but largely limited to customer support.—
Ilona Limonta-Volkova,
Forbes.com,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
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There’s no copyright contingency telling you the dragon needs to have wings or not, or George should be English, French, or Turkish.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
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That’s also telling us that this family is experiencing demographic change.—
Jason Parham,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The mom of Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie Elijah Roberts has turned her personal journey into a lifeline for others through her nonprofit, Pain 2 Purpose (P2P), a foundation dedicated to supporting survivors and educating young people.—
Adrienne Farr,
Parents,
30 Jan. 2026
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Levine Cava also addressed discussions in Tallahassee about potential property tax cuts, saying her administration is focused on educating residents about how such cuts could affect county services.—
Nikiya Carrero,
CBS News,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The governor, Tim Walz, defeated for the Vice Presidency, gets on TV, his voice quavering, saying the right things, speaking the truth, and advising courage.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
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Cruise lines such as Margaritaville at Sea have begun alerting their guests of the policy, advising passengers to leave any vaping devices onboard the ships or just avoid bringing them altogether, according to numerous reports.—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Dutch court ruled government discriminated against Bonaire’s 20,000 residents by failing to protect them from climate change, ordering binding emissions targets within 18 months.—
Mike Corder,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Jan. 2026
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Pros recommend ordering materials and booking installation early in the year to lock in lower prices.—
Cori Sears,
The Spruce,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
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This lets users keep their main work open while asking Gemini to summarize content, compare products, or organize information from multiple sites at the same time.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Jan. 2026
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In 2013, David Kidd and Emanuele Castano shifted the research goal posts by asking if reading literary fiction (as opposed to non-fiction, popular fiction, or no reading) correlated with higher scores on what’s known as theory of mind.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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China continues to be a pain point, while in Australia, Mecca continues to have a commanding market share.—
Jenny B. Fine,
Footwear News,
28 Jan. 2026
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But, even as it’s taken a more pro-safety stance in AI development, Anthropic has been racing alongside AI commercially, commanding a $350 billion valuation.—
Ashley Capoot,
CNBC,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Instructing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/instructing. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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