Meanings
alternative obsolete enstead · alternative obsolete in steed · alternative obsolete in stead · alternative pronunciation spelling 'nstead
- not comparableIn the place of something (usually mentioned earlier); as a substitute or alternative.
I was going to go shopping, but I went dancing instead.
3 more examples
‘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.’
1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLCSeeing 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.
2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, archived from the original on 18 Feb 2022, page 21Back in college, [Maddi] Filliater said she tweeted at a local sandwich shop about some alleged brown lettuce, and the business responded angrily: Why didn't she bring up the problem in person instead of attacking them on the Internet? Her friends refer to the incident as "LettuceGate."
2022 March 30, Tatum Hunter, “How to leave a bad online review without being a jerk”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Apr 2022Synonyms: in lieu, alternatively
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbIn the place of something (usually mentioned earlier); as a substitute or alternative.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbin place of, or as an alternative to
adverbon the contrary
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishine“in”
- Englishinstead
From in + stead, from Middle English ine (“in”) + stede (“stead”). Related to German statt.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic بَدَلاً مِن
- بَدَلاً مِن (badalan min)in the place of (it)
Bengali পরিবর্তে
- পরিবর্তে (poriborte)in the place of (it)
Bulgarian вме́сто
- вме́сто (vmésto)in the place of (it)
Chinese Mandarin 代替, 抵作
- 代替 (dàitì)in the place of (it)
- 抵作 (dǐzuò)in the place of (it)
Czech namísto, místo toho
- namístoin the place of (it)
- místo tohoin the place of (it)
Danish i stedet, i stedet for
- i stedetin the place of (it)
- i stedet forin the place of (it)
Dutch in plaats daarvan
- in plaats daarvanin the place of (it)
Esperanto anstataŭe
- anstataŭein the place of (it)
Finnish asemasta, sen sijaan
- asemastain the place of (it)
- sen sijaanin the place of (it)
- sen sijastain the place of (it)
- tilallein the place of (it)
French à la place, au lieu de
- à la placein the place of (it)
- au lieu dein the place of (it)
- plutôtin the place of (it)
German stattdessen, anstatt
- stattdessenin the place of (it)
- anstattin the place of (it)
Greek αντί
- αντί (antí)in the place of (it)
Hebrew במקום
- במקוםin the place of (it)
Hindi के बजाय
- के बजाय (ke bajāy)in the place of (it)
Hungarian helyette, inkább
- helyettein the place of (it)
- inkábbin the place of (it)
- hanemin the place of (it)
Icelandic í staðinn, í stað þess
- í staðinnin the place of (it)
- í stað þessin the place of (it)
Indonesian malah
- malahin the place of (it)
Irish ina ionad, ina áit
- ina ionadin the place of (it)
- ina áitin the place of (it)
Italian in luogo di, invece
- in luogo diin the place of (it)
- invecein the place of (it)
- al posto diin the place of (it)
Japanese ...の代わりに
- ...の代わりに (...no kawari-ni)in the place of (it)
Korean 대신에
- 대신에 (daesine)in the place of (it)
Malay sebaliknya
- sebaliknyain the place of (it)
Norwegian isteden, i staden
- istedenin the place of (it)
- i stadenin the place of (it)
- i stedetin the place of (it)
Polish zamiast
- zamiastin the place of (it)
Portuguese em vez de, ao invés de
- em vez dein the place of (it)
- ao invés dein the place of (it)
- antesin the place of (it)
Romanian în loc de
- în loc dein the place of (it)
Russian вме́сто того́
- вме́сто того́ (vmésto tovó)in the place of (it)
Spanish en vez de, en lugar de
- en vez dein the place of (it)
- en lugar dein the place of (it)
- en vez de elloin the place of (it)
- en lugar de aquesoin the place of (it)
- mejorin the place of (it)
- en su lugarin the place of (it)
Swedish istället
- iställetin the place of (it)
Thai แทน
- แทน (taen)in the place of (it)
Turkish yerine
- yerinein the place of (it)
Ukrainian нато́мість
- нато́мість (natómistʹ)in the place of (it)
Vietnamese thay vì
- thay vìin the place of (it)
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with instead
Anagrams
Cite this entry
instead. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instead
“instead.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instead. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “instead,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instead.
Source: instead on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.