Meanings
alternative archaic in stead of · alternative formal literary in the stead of · alternative pronunciation spelling insteada · alternative pronunciation spelling steada
- In lieu of; in place of; rather than.
I wish I were rich instead of poor.
4 more examples
He walked to school instead of taking the car.
The baby put the food on his face instead of in his mouth.
And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 4:16Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
Origin
- Middle Englishin stede of
- Englishinstead of
From Middle English in stede of, in stude of (“instead of”, literally “in stead of, in place of”), equivalent to in + stead + of (cf. in one's stead). Cognate with Saterland Frisian insteede, ansteede (“instead of”), West Frisian ynstee (“instead of”), Dutch instede (“instead of”), German anstatt (von) (“instead of”), Danish i stedet (“instead of”).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans in plaas van
- in plaas vanin lieu of; in place of; rather than
Ancient Greek ἀντί
- ἀντί (antí)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
Arabic بَدَلًا مِن
- بَدَلًا مِن (badalan min)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
Bengali পরিবর্তে
- পরিবর্তে (poriborte)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
Bulgarian вме́сто
- вме́сто (vmésto)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
Catalan en comptes de
- en comptes dein lieu of; in place of; rather than
Chinese Cantonese 而係 /而系, 反而
- 而係 /而系 (ji⁴ hai⁶)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
- 反而 (faan² ji⁴)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
Chinese Mandarin 而是, 反而
- 而是 (érshì)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
- 反而 (fǎn'ér)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
Czech namísto, místo
- namístoin lieu of; in place of; rather than
- místoin lieu of; in place of; rather than
Danish i stedet for
- i stedet forin lieu of; in place of; rather than
Dutch in plaats van
- in plaats vanin lieu of; in place of; rather than
Esperanto anstataŭ
- anstataŭin lieu of; in place of; rather than
Estonian selle asemel et, selmet
- selle asemel etin lieu of; in place of; rather than
- selmetin lieu of; in place of; rather than
Finnish sen sijaan että, sen sijaan
- sen sijaan ettäin lieu of; in place of; rather than
- sen sijaanin lieu of; in place of; rather than
- asemestain lieu of; in place of; rather than
French à la place de, au lieu de
- à la place dein lieu of; in place of; rather than
- au lieu dein lieu of; in place of; rather than
German an Stelle von, anstelle von
- an Stelle vonin lieu of; in place of; rather than
- anstelle vonin lieu of; in place of; rather than
- stattin lieu of; in place of; rather than
- anstattin lieu of; in place of; rather than
- anstellein lieu of; in place of; rather than
Greek αντί
- αντί (antí)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
Hebrew בִּמְקוֹם
- בִּמְקוֹם (bimkom)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
Hindi के बजाय
- के बजाय (ke bajāy)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
Hungarian helyett
- helyettin lieu of; in place of; rather than
Icelandic í staðin fyrir
- í staðin fyririn lieu of; in place of; rather than
Indonesian alih-alih, bukannya
- alih-alihin lieu of; in place of; rather than
- bukannyain lieu of; in place of; rather than
Irish in ionad, in áit
- in ionadin lieu of; in place of; rather than
- in áitin lieu of; in place of; rather than
Italian invece di, invece che
- invece diin lieu of; in place of; rather than
- invece chein lieu of; in place of; rather than
- anzichéin lieu of; in place of; rather than
Japanese …の代わりに
- …の代わりに (... no kawari ni)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
Korean ~ 대신에
- ~ 대신에in lieu of; in place of; rather than
Latin pro, vice
- proin lieu of; in place of; rather than
- vicein lieu of; in place of; rather than
Malay daripada
- daripadain lieu of; in place of; rather than
Norwegian Bokmål istedenfor, i staden for
- istedenforin lieu of; in place of; rather than
- i staden forin lieu of; in place of; rather than
- i stedet forin lieu of; in place of; rather than
Polish zamiast, w miejsce
- zamiastin lieu of; in place of; rather than
- w miejscein lieu of; in place of; rather than
- na miejscein lieu of; in place of; rather than
Portuguese ao invés de, em vez de
- ao invés dein lieu of; in place of; rather than
- em vez dein lieu of; in place of; rather than
Russian вме́сто, взаме́н
- вме́сто (vmésto)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
- взаме́н (vzamén)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
Slovak namiesto
- namiestoin lieu of; in place of; rather than
Spanish en lugar de, en vez de
- en lugar dein lieu of; in place of; rather than
- en vez dein lieu of; in place of; rather than
Swedish i stället för
- i stället förin lieu of; in place of; rather than
Thai แทน
- แทน (tɛɛn)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
Turkish yerine
- yerinein lieu of; in place of; rather than
Ukrainian за́мість, замі́сто
- за́мість (zámistʹ)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
- замі́сто (zamísto)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
Urdu کے بَجائے
- کے بَجائے (ke bajāe)in lieu of; in place of; rather than
Vietnamese thay vì
- thay vìin lieu of; in place of; rather than
Welsh yn lle
- yn llein lieu of; in place of; rather than
Cite this entry
instead of. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instead%20of
“instead of.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instead%20of. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “instead of,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instead%20of.
Source: instead of on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.