English

Preposition

instead of

1. In lieu of; in place of; rather than.

   He walked to school instead of taking the car.‎

   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:

     Then 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.

Usage notes

• Instead of is always followed by a noun (often a gerund).

Translations