instead

adverbtop 1 000 in film dialogue

Canada//ɪnˈstɛd//
Australia//ɪnˈsted//
//ɪnˈstiːd//

In the place of something (usually mentioned earlier); as a substitute or alternative.

adverb

1
In the place of something (usually mentioned earlier); as a substitute or alternative.
I was going to go shopping, but I went dancing instead.
‘It's rather like a beautiful Inverness cloak one has inherited. Much too good to hide away, so one wears it instead of an overcoat and pretends it's an amusing new fashion.’
Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming, […]. A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.

Etymology

From in + stead, from Middle English ine (“in”) + stede (“stead”). Related to German statt.

instance · An occasion; an order of occurrence.instant · A very short period of time; a moment.instantly · At once; without delay.

instead · In the place of something (usually mentioned earlier); as a substitute or alternative.

instinct · A natural or inherent impulse or behaviour.institute · An organization founded to promote a cause institution · A long-established organization or type of organization,…

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.