adverb
definition
In the place of something (usually mentioned earlier); as a substitute or alternative.
example
I was going to go shopping, but I went dancing instead.
Examples of instead in a Sentence
I will try to make friends instead of enemies.
I always pictured myself driving a van instead of a truck.
Instead of dining out, we ordered a couple of pizzas.
Instead of improving, Destiny got steadily worse.
Instead of shifting with each step, the ground felt solid.
Instead, I asked a question.
Instead, Felipa met them at the corral.
Instead of braids, she brushed her hair into a ponytail.
Instead, she had heard nothing from him.
Then they spend all their time at parties instead of studying.
You might have said something in my defense last night, instead of sitting there like a lump on a log.
We would if he'd let me bracket enough times instead of quitting just because he gets tired.
My dog refused to gnaw on the bone I bought her, instead she chews on my shoes!
I have three eyes instead of two?
She smiles instead of answering my query.
Why didn't you tell me instead of trying to trick me?
He turned instead to Fred.
He kept my mind alert and eager, and trained it to reason clearly, and to seek conclusions calmly and logically, instead of jumping wildly into space and arriving nowhere.
But instead of packing, she cleaned the house and went for a ride.
Instead of using our usual tip line, we conveyed the information directly to Detroit where the abduction took place.
Instead of answering, I simply smiled.
He was wrong for running instead of making peace.
No government is involved in these organizations, which are instead driven by a combination of religious and civic motives.
I drove south toward town on the West Surry Road but instead of following Court Street, turned back north west on the Old Walpole to Howie's home.
Instead, it is a large, open-air farm with a robot assigned to make each turnip be all that it can be.
Instead, they track and kill my vamps.
If instead of imagining to ourselves commanders of genius leading the Russian army, we picture that army without any leaders, it could not have done anything but make a return movement toward Moscow, describing an arc in the direction where most provisions were to be found and where the country was richest.
Instead, she collected a few small photos and arranged them all in one frame.
It's a good thing I decided to come here first instead of go home.
Instead, I called the number advertised on the television announcement.
Instead, I had the presence to mind to avoid answering.
I didn't answer and instead requested he have Quinn or Martha call me as soon as they get in.
Here I sit, having to listen to a sobbing lady instead of being on my way to more pleasant chores.
Instead, he steered the conversation toward Gladys Turnbull, who was the only other occupant of the cozy room.
He continued to avoid her gaze, focusing on Felipa instead.
I'd like to think we were doing something worthwhile instead of wasting our time on pointless errands.
Instead of moving away, he rested his hands lightly on her arms.
What if Señor Medena had three boys instead of three girls?
I thought the nobles were jealous that I took her as my bride, instead of a daughter from a more prominent family.
In the future, massive new amounts of information will begin to resolve the debate, instead of just adding noise to it as too often occurs today.
Drain the blood from men's veins and put in water instead, then there will be no more war!
She had fallen ill unexpectedly a few days previously, had missed several gatherings of which she was usually ornament, and was said to be receiving no one, and instead of the celebrated Petersburg doctors who usually attended her had entrusted herself to some Italian doctor who was treating her in some new and unusual way.
Instead, she decided to use that extra hour to take a relaxing bath.
Instead, she allowed him to gently turn her body so that he could gaze into her eyes.
Instead of answering, he turned to Quinn.
But instead of all that--here he was, the wealthy husband of an unfaithful wife, a retired gentleman-in-waiting, fond of eating and drinking and, as he unbuttoned his waistcoat, of abusing the government a bit, a member of the Moscow English Club, and a universal favorite in Moscow society.
He imagined all sorts of possible contingencies, just like the younger men, but with this difference, that he saw thousands of contingencies instead of two or three and based nothing on them.
She left him there to think about his actions - only he would probably stew on hers instead.
Instead he said nothing.
Pierre dressed hurriedly and, instead of going to see them, went to the back porch and out through the gate.