instructor
Americannoun
-
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.
Instructor Carlos Alonzo, left, shows Miracle Chaney, 17, left, how to cut steel with a grinder in one of the shops at the Ignition Lab, part of Operation Breakthrough.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 5, 2024
Instructor Meredith Anderson says she’s heard many reasons why people attend.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 17, 2023
Instructor Slava watched their technique and commented on how to better remain hidden in their makeshift dens in the woods.
From BBC • Apr. 25, 2023
Air Force Fighter Weapons Instructor Course with more than 3,300 hours in the F-16C.
From Washington Times • Apr. 5, 2023
Three, Isaac, was given an Assignment as Instructor of Sixes, which obviously pleased him and was well deserved.
From "The Giver" by Lois Lowry
Definitions 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.
