instead

• enstead (obsolete)
• in stead (obsolete)

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

• enPR: ĭn-stěd', IPA^(key): /ɪnˈstɛd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛd

instead (not comparable)

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.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     ‘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.’

   • 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:

     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.

• in lieu

• instead of

• destain, stained, Tiendas, Danites, d'ansite, Sidetan, taneids, indates, sainted, satined, nidates, detains, tiendas