as in essential
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Recent Examples of instrumental
L'Oréal’s own consumer research found 58 percent of women linked heat to their hair damage, and company instrumental testing showed the device works three times faster and leaves hair twice as smooth compared to premium competitors.
—
Allison Palmer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 June 2026
The Office of Management and Budget, run by Russell Vought, was instrumental in blocking the spending of aid money last year.
—Anna Maria Barry-Jester, ProPublica, 22 June 2026
Cardenas was one of the lowriders instrumental in changing the local ordinances that allowed enthusiasts to cruise around Sacramento again.
—Hg Biggs, Sacbee.com, 22 June 2026
This spray was an instrumental part of me surviving the initial heat waves this year in NYC.
—Olivia Cefalu, InStyle, 21 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for instrumental
Allison Palmer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 June 2026
The Office of Management and Budget, run by Russell Vought, was instrumental in blocking the spending of aid money last year.
—Anna Maria Barry-Jester, ProPublica, 22 June 2026
Cardenas was one of the lowriders instrumental in changing the local ordinances that allowed enthusiasts to cruise around Sacramento again.
—Hg Biggs, Sacbee.com, 22 June 2026
This spray was an instrumental part of me surviving the initial heat waves this year in NYC.
—Olivia Cefalu, InStyle, 21 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for instrumental
Recent Examples of Synonyms for instrumental
Adjective
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Those approvals allow crews to begin building essential site infrastructure before full production activities start.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
24 June 2026
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Therefore, building mental endurance is essential to staving off decision fatigue and reducing the judgment errors that tend to surface when a leader's cognitive reserves run low.—
Julian Hayes II,
Forbes.com,
24 June 2026
Adjective
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Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, schools faced mounting pressure to raise test scores, creating a fundamental tension between learning time and and play time.—
Cierra Morgan,
Los Angeles Times,
18 June 2026
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For a variety of reasons that weren’t immediately entirely clear, there was a comprehensive and fundamental breakdown in access to the stadium that left many exasperated or furious.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
17 June 2026
Adjective
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She's seen these parents put off their own health, including necessary surgeries.—
Madeline Mitchell,
USA Today,
20 June 2026
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Simple, age-appropriate conversations about device use could help children understand the difference between necessary engagement and recreation.—
Sandra Gonzalez,
CNN Money,
19 June 2026
Adjective
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Instead, consciousness is an outcome of information processing, and thus in principle it can be generated in any number of physical substrates so long as those substrates can support the requisite informational patterns, structures and computations.—
Rob Toews,
Forbes.com,
22 June 2026
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And of course, the park has the requisite harbors, beaches, basketball, pickleball/tennis courts, ball fields and an 18-hole golf course/driving range.—
Michael Peregrine,
Chicago Tribune,
21 June 2026
Adjective
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Riccobono said a few basic tips can help make those interactions as smooth as possible.—
Zach Wichter,
USA Today,
22 June 2026
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Sentience is defined as the basic capacity to feel and to experience sensations.—
Rob Toews,
Forbes.com,
22 June 2026
Adjective
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Speaking of immersive, MacKay and Turner only acquired an elementary grasp of the mechanics of fishing, but that’s by design.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
18 June 2026
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The lawsuit cited the facility's proximity to elementary and middle schools and residential neighborhoods.—
DeJanay Booth-Singleton,
CBS News,
18 June 2026
Adjective
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Microfiber Cloths Over the last few decades, microfiber towels have become an indispensable part of our lives.—
Louise Parks,
Martha Stewart,
18 June 2026
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After all, a lot of the motivation for hoarding as people age is due to fear of mistreatment when physical decline makes reliance on oth-ers indispensable.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Instrumental.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/instrumental. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
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