1
as in teaching
to cause to acquire knowledge or skill in some field
spent his military career instructing young pilots
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in informing
to give information to
instructed everyone in the use of the new telephone system
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in telling
to issue orders to (someone) by right of authority
the proctors instructed everyone to put their pencils down and hand in their tests
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of instructing
Ahead of the challenge, the players met at a beach and read a note instructing them to find an advantage that would grant one player power, leading to an immediate and rampant scramble through the island.
—
Anthony Robledo, USA Today, 1 Apr. 2026
LeVota did implement a cap on commercial properties by instructing county staff to manually adjust the values of more than 6,200 spaces.
—Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 31 Mar. 2026
An alarm sounded in the airplane's cockpit, instructing the jet pilot to climb quickly to a higher altitude and avoid a potential collision with the helicopters.
—Sharyn Alfonsi, CBS News, 29 Mar. 2026
According to MySA, signs appeared at certain Buc-ee’s fuel pumps instructing customers using a credit or debit card to pay at the pump.
—Marley Malenfant, Austin American Statesman, 26 Mar. 2026
That sense of normalcy largely held until Wednesday evening, when emergency alerts began chiming on phones across Riyadh, warning residents of an aerial threat and instructing them to remain indoors and away from windows.
—Manal Albarakati, semafor.com, 25 Mar. 2026
All this while the cashier holds a computer screen to my face instructing me to tap 10%, 15%, 20% or other numbers.
—Michel A. Ibrahim, Baltimore Sun, 22 Mar. 2026
Subsequent footage shows cops instructing Timberlake to complete a series of sobriety tests.
—Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 21 Mar. 2026
In a statement to ProPublica, the CDIA highlighted that a notice instructing consumers to first dispute directly had been present in the CFPB complaint portal briefly around 2012.
—Joel Jacobs, CNN Money, 11 Mar. 2026
Anthony Robledo, USA Today, 1 Apr. 2026
LeVota did implement a cap on commercial properties by instructing county staff to manually adjust the values of more than 6,200 spaces.
—Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 31 Mar. 2026
An alarm sounded in the airplane's cockpit, instructing the jet pilot to climb quickly to a higher altitude and avoid a potential collision with the helicopters.
—Sharyn Alfonsi, CBS News, 29 Mar. 2026
According to MySA, signs appeared at certain Buc-ee’s fuel pumps instructing customers using a credit or debit card to pay at the pump.
—Marley Malenfant, Austin American Statesman, 26 Mar. 2026
That sense of normalcy largely held until Wednesday evening, when emergency alerts began chiming on phones across Riyadh, warning residents of an aerial threat and instructing them to remain indoors and away from windows.
—Manal Albarakati, semafor.com, 25 Mar. 2026
All this while the cashier holds a computer screen to my face instructing me to tap 10%, 15%, 20% or other numbers.
—Michel A. Ibrahim, Baltimore Sun, 22 Mar. 2026
Subsequent footage shows cops instructing Timberlake to complete a series of sobriety tests.
—Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 21 Mar. 2026
In a statement to ProPublica, the CDIA highlighted that a notice instructing consumers to first dispute directly had been present in the CFPB complaint portal briefly around 2012.
—Joel Jacobs, CNN Money, 11 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for instructing
Verb
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Her income dipped back to $192,000 in 2024 before rising again last year to $300,000, when Porter returned to teaching law at the University of California-Irvine.—
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
4 Apr. 2026
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By then, the photographers Aaron Siskind and Harry Callahan were teaching at the school, along with Hazel Larsen Archer, who had overlapped with Rauschenberg in 1949 and captured his love of movement and of grace in a photograph of her own.—
Hilton Als,
New Yorker,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The White House team is required to file a report informing the court of the status of its compliance within 21 days after the order takes effect.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
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Thousands of Oracle workers woke Tuesday to an email from their employer informing them that their jobs had been cut with immediate effect, in what appears to one of the largest mass layoffs in the tech giant’s history.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Because there’s no telling how many times this bell will ring before changes are ushered in.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
1 Apr. 2026
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American Airlines is telling you why your flight is delayed.—
Zach Wichter,
USA Today,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Though the financial savings enable Cristo Rey to redirect the money to educating high school students, Kendall said the benefits do more.—
Steve Sadin,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Apr. 2026
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Following the introduction of courses in cosmetics and fragrances in 2023, the school added new classes aimed at educating and training in the professional channel to support the increasing demand for skilled figures, especially in the hair and makeup categories.—
Sandra Salibian,
Footwear News,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Raine Group and JPMorgan Chase are advising the league on the matter.—
Kurt Badenhausen,
Sportico.com,
1 Apr. 2026
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Applicants must also complete a Small Business Development Center onboarding and advising session and demonstrate a business concept with clear future milestones.—
Claire Murphy,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This film is about the government ordering the elderly to relocate to distant housing colonies to maximize economic productivity.—
Adam Bell
April 2,
Charlotte Observer,
2 Apr. 2026
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The case is a rare example of a judge ordering a person’s return to the United States after being deported, said Talia Inlender, deputy director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law.—
Sophie Austin,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
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When caregivers there left a suicidal resident hanging by the neck from his room’s sprinkler system without giving the man immediate aid, Florida’s healthcare watchdog agency took the uncommon action of asking a judge to shut down Villa Rosa IV.—
Carol Marbin Miller,
Miami Herald,
2 Apr. 2026
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Trump is asking the justices to uphold his Day 1 executive order eliminating birthright citizenship under a novel interpretation of the 14th Amendment and requiring parents to prove their own legal status before citizenship is granted to their children.—
Peter Charalambous,
ABC News,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
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By inning’s end, the Mets had a commanding 5-0 lead.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
4 Apr. 2026
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The exhibit featured photos of Oloyede commanding Florida A&M’s band, along with her uniform jacket and a tall major shako (military-style) hat.—
AJ Willingham,
AJC.com,
4 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Instructing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/instructing. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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