instrumentally

comparative more instrumentally · superlative most instrumentally

1. By means of an instrument or agency; as means to an end

   They will argue that the end being essentially beneficial, the means become instrumentally so.

   1760–1765, Edmund Burke, Tracts Relative to the Laws against Popery in Ireland

   1 more example

   Institutionally based, restrictive relationships, such as those among family members or professional colleagues, must thus be contrasted with instrumentally based, nonrestrictive relationships serving the aims of practical pursuits, such as those between freely practicing experts and their clients or between sellers and buyers. In instrumentally structured situations it is not necessary for the participants to curb their needs, because the mere expression of needs in no way compels others to gratify them, as it tends to do in the family.

   1974, Thomas S. Szasz, chapter 8, in The Myth of Mental Illness, →ISBN, page 144

2. With musical instruments

   join in instrumentally

   2 more examples

   an instrumentally accompanied song

   In a song that has vocals, the intro is often played instrumentally and serves to establish the overall feel of the song.

   2018, Rick Mattingly, Rod Morgenstein, The Drumset Musician