instead of

Idioms and Phrases

Also, in lieu of ; in place of ; in someone's stead . In substitution for, rather than. For example, She wore a dress instead of slacks , or They had a soprano in lieu of a tenor , or In place of soft drinks they served fruit juice , or The chairman spoke in her stead . Instead of dates from about 1200; in lieu of , which borrows lieu , meaning “place,” from French, dates from the late 1200s; in place of dates from the 1500s; and in someone's stead from the 1200s. Also see under in someone's shoes .

Example Sentences

Instead of needing two laws — an authorizing law that approves funding for an agency and another to actually allocate those funds — Congress only passes the appropriation, which then gives the program the authority to spend its funding, according to The Washington Post.

From Salon

Rachel Maddow’s going to have to put a roof over her head on a $25 million salary instead of $30 million.

From Slate

In this research, the UW-Madison team used an innovative ring-shaped laser beam, provided by a leading laser company called nLight, instead of the usual Gaussian-shaped beam.

From Science Daily

One positional change has seen wing Blair Murray moving to full-back instead of Cameron Winnett.

From BBC

A genetic mutation is like accidentally replacing one ingredient with something completely different -- for example, using sawdust instead of flour.

From Science Daily