instructor
Americannoun
-
instructors
plural
-
a person who instructs; teacher.
- Synonyms:
- pedagogue, preceptor, schoolmaster, tutor
-
a teacher in a college or university who ranks below an assistant professor.
noun
-
someone who instructs; teacher
-
a university teacher ranking below assistant professor
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of instructor
1425–75; late Middle English < Latin, equivalent to instruc-, variant stem of instruere ( see instruct) + -tor -tor
Compare meaning
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Explanation
An instructor is a teacher. One can be an instructor of just about anything, but it usually applies to teaching hands-on skills, like a water-skiing instructor or the instructor of the knitting class held at the community center. When you instruct, or teach, other people how to do something, you are their instructor. At a college, you might hear some of the people who teach classes referred to as instructors and others as professors. An instructor might teach only part-time, or be a graduate student, or, for the moment at least, not be on the path to receiving the title of professor. Still, instructors are teachers: they have their own classes and students.
Vocabulary lists containing instructor
Occupations
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List 2
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -er, -or
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Ian Patterson, a decorated 15-year service member and instructor, died after a rappelling accident during a military salute before the Navy-UTSA game at the Alamodome.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
Marine Corps helicopter pilot and a helicopter accident investigation instructor at USC’s Aviation Safety and Security Program.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
The driver of the first train, travelling from Nottingham to London, was learning how to operate a new type of train under the supervision of an instructor.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Neither the driver nor the instructor recognised the alarm as an AWS warning, and it was not acknowledged within the required window.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
When she reached 18, it was a commercial license; two years later, she also had a flight instructor rating and an instrument rating.
From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson
Faculty members at a number of institutions told MarketWatch that their computer-science departments scrambled to hire faculty when interest in the major peaked around 2023, and now the departments have a surplus of instructors.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026
Some are paying the defense ministry to rent an air-defense system, with monthly payments required as instructors man the system, said two people close to Russia’s business community.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
It is not clear how many instructors and customers have been hit by the sudden decision to shut the studios down.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
While pilots and instructors stress standardizing procedures and flight paths, news incidents like police chases, fires, and crashes force pilots into new conditions during every flight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
A stark warning issued by survival school instructors flashed through his mind—never wear wedding rings into combat.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
